"Even the Queen" is a science fiction short story by

Connie Willis Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born December 31, 1945), commonly known as Connie Willis, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards for particular works—more major SF awards than ...

, exploring the long-term cultural effects of scientific control of

menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of hor ...

. It was originally published in 1992 in ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publication ...

'', and appears in Willis' short-story collection '' Impossible Things'' (1994) and ''The Best of Connie Willis'' (2013), as well as in the audio-book ''Even the Queen and Other Short Stories'' (1996).

Synopsis

Three generations of women discuss the decision of one of their daughters to join the "Cyclists", a group of traditionalist women who have chosen to menstruate even though scientific breakthroughs (in particular, a substance called "ammenerol") have made this unnecessary. The title refers to the fact that "even the Queen" (of the United Kingdom) menstruated.

Reception

"Even the Queen" won the 1993

Hugo Award for Best Short Story The Hugo Award for Best Short Story is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The short story award is available for works of fiction of ...

.1993 Hugo Awards
at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved May 17, 2017 It also won the 1993

Nebula Award for Best Short Story The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short stor ...

Nalo Hopkinson Nalo Hopkinson (born 20 December 1960) is a Jamaican-born Canadian speculative fiction writer and editor. Her novels ('' Brown Girl in the Ring'', ''Midnight Robber'', '' The Salt Roads'', ''The New Moon's Arms'') and short stories such as thos ...

called it "hilarious and contrary".A Woman's Liberation: A Choice of Futures by and About Women
reviewed by

, in ''

Science Fiction Weekly Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launc ...

''; issue 234; retrieved January 13, 2019 via

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Laura Quilter Laura Quilter (born 1968) is a writer, lawyer, librarian, professor, and science fiction fan known for both her work on intellectual property and new media, and her long-standing archive of information on feminist science fiction. She received h ...

, conversely, felt that it was "more of a diatribe against" feminism, with its humor being largely "its rather mean-spirited depiction of various strains of feminism";Reviews: Connie Willis
by

, at ''Feminist SF''; published August 11, 2001; retrieved via

Quilter subsequently specified that although the story "had some truthfulness & consequently some honest humor", she found it to be "hugely over-rated".Reviews: Connie Willis
by

, at ''Feminist SF''; published February 18, 2003; retrieved via

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'' considers it "light-hearted" and "a comedy of identity politics and mother-daughter relations",Connie Willis Invades Wartime Britain
by Julie Phillips, at ''

the Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

''; published October 10, 2010; retrieved May 17, 2017 while ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', reviewing the audiobook, describes it as a "sly jab at both

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male poi ...

and anti-feminists."AUDIO BOOKS
edited by Trudi Miller Rosenblum, in ''

'' (via

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

); published December 12, 1996; retrieved May 17, 2017

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Even The Queen 1992 short stories Hugo Award for Best Short Story winning works Works originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction Nebula Award for Best Short Story-winning works Works by Connie Willis Feminist short stories