"When It Changed" is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

short story by American writer

Joanna Russ Joanna Russ (February 22, 1937 – April 29, 2011) was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as ''How to Suppress Women's Writing'', as w ...

. It was first published in the anthology ''

Again, Dangerous Visions ''Again, Dangerous Visions'' (1972) is a science fiction short story anthology, edited by American author Harlan Ellison. It is the follow-up to '' Dangerous Visions'' (1967), also edited by Ellison. Cover art and interior illustrations are by E ...

''.

Synopsis

Janet Evason lives on Whileaway, an all-female human colony planet whose inhabitants produce offspring by combining

ova , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

because all their males died in a plague 30 generations earlier. When male astronauts arrive from Earth, they say that Earth has become genetically deficient and tell her that they would like to reproduce with women. Janet's wife tries to kill the astronauts; Janet stops her, but realizes that their very existence will change Whileaway society forever.

Reception

"When It Changed" won the 1972

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 ...

,When It Changed
at

Science Fiction Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. While ...

; retrieved October 27, 20128 and was a finalist for the 1973

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 ...

.1973 Hugo Awards
at TheHugoAwards.org; retrieved October 28, 2018

Themes

In the afterword, Russ states "When It Changed" was written to challenge ideas in

that had not, at the time of writing, been addressed. These ideas were related to the way women—and societies consisting solely of women—were handled by writers who are male. She wrote: (Note: The Laumer story was actually named “War Against the Yukks”.) Russ also mentions

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

's novel ''

The Left Hand of Darkness ''The Left Hand of Darkness'' is a science fiction novel by U.S. writer Ursula K. Le Guin. Published in 1969, it became immensely popular, and established Le Guin's status as a major author of science fiction. The novel is set in the fictiona ...

'' as an influence on the story.

Awards and nominations

1973 *

nominee 1973 * James Tiptree, Jr. Award (retroactive, 1996)

References

External links

* {{James Tiptree, Jr. Award Winners 1972 short stories James Tiptree Jr. Award-winning works Again, Dangerous Visions short stories Feminist science fiction Single-gender worlds Nebula Award for Best Short Story-winning works