The Infinite Matrix | Michael Swanwick & Francisco Goya | The Sleep Of

Reason 77

09.11.03

the sleep of reason

by Michael Swanwick

with illustrations by

Francisco JosÉ de Goya y Lucientes

Click image to enlarge

Digital image © copyright

Davison Art Center,

Wesleyan University

DAC permission required

for any other use.

77. [Plate 61]

The Apotheosis of Elena

Elena was not much of a thinker. She was by nature a doer, a corrupter,

and a destroyer. But that doesn't mean she was stupid. Far from it. Her

mind (not that anybody had ever noticed) was as bright as a dime.

In an idle hour, she picked up a paperback that was lying around, and

started to read. It was The Second Sex. From there she moved quickly to

Sexual Politics, The Female Eunuch, and The Feminine Mystique. Before she

knew it, she was reading MacKinnon, Rich, Morrison, Penelope, Russ, and

dozens of feminists more. It was as if somebody had lit a fire in her

brain.

Contrary to what most people think, reading a book won't change your

life. But reading lots and lots of books will. Elena read and thought and

pondered, until finally she came up with one of those truths that are as

simple as a bone, and yet always so astounding when they arrive:

Women are people.

like swanwick?

like goya?

so do we.

keep 'em sparring!

send money.

More options on the Contributions page.

T H A N K S !

So stunning, so true, so hard to accept! Women are people. Which is to

say that women are... men. Female men. Nothing more, and nothing less.

Which is to say they're no damned good.

Armed with this knowledge, Elena went straight to her backers, the three

ancient female scientists who had created her in order to wreak vengeance

upon men for their own dry and loveless lives. Eleanor, Enid, and

Annaprudenzia had given her a woman's mind and body along with the heart

of a man. Now she would give them something in return.

Elena told Eleanor that she was not nearly so old as she thought. She

told Enid that a certain handsome grey-haired magnate had a secret

passion for her. She put Annaprudenzia to bed with a hot whiskey, and

then played "mother-may-I" with her until the foolish old thing no longer

knew what her sexual orientation was.

And that was just the beginning.

She set the three to fighting with each other. She forced them into

humiliating alliances and bitter rivalries. She elated them with hatred,

and then she made them crawl. "How could you do this to us?" they cried

piteously to her. "We created you! What kind of monster are you?"

"I am the New Woman," Elena declared. "Everything you gave me - property

rights, sexual freedom, the vote - I take for granted. I'm not in the

least grateful for them. They were there when I arrived, and they cost me

not a cent. You might as well expect me to be grateful for my beauty or

my intellect!"

"But we gave you those too!" Eleanor said.

"And money!" Enid added.

Annaprudenzia wept openly. "We sacrificed everything for you!"

"Tough titty," Elena said. And, standing on the backs of her

predecessors, she flew into the future.

[ Previous ] [ Next ]

This is the 77th of 80 stories by Michael Swanwick written to accompany

Francisco Goya's Los Caprichos. For a listing of the most recently

available stories, go to The Sleep of Reason.

Eileen K. Gunn.

Founding sponsor: Matrix.Net

Hosted by SFF.Net.

-->