Short Women in Space!!!

(Queue dramatic echo)

Space Woman Art based on photo by Zaprittsky, Creative Commons

October is Short Women in Space month here at Diary of a Short Woman, and I will be reviewing 31 short stories written by women involving space–one every day for the entirety of the month. I hope to highlight authors of the female persuasion writing awesome SF, as well as, perhaps touching on issues that we may face as we explore deeper into the universe.

So this idea came to me after perusing the Mars One website. At first, I was ecstatic to find out that I met the minimum height requirements (by like a centimeter) to sign up to my one-way trip to Mars, but then I started thinking…while I do not consider myself a person of tall stature by any means, why would they set the height requirement at 5 foot 2? Certainly someone 5-feet even, or even 4 foot 8 is just as capable as I am, right? Why have a height restriction at all, especially one that excludes such a large population (of primarily women) from stepping upon another planet? Would it be that much of an inconvenience to ask another crew member to get my phaser down from the top shelf every time that I had to go blast aliens?

And speaking of aliens, it doesn’t hurt that my pet project Women and Aliens month is just around the corner at The Drabblecast, and I’ll be reading a ton of stories in this general vein anyway, so I thought this would be a good way to share all of the gems I come across in this adventuresome process. Interested in joining me? Whether you’re a tall woman, short man, sentient marsupial, or anything and everything in between, there’s a seat for you on my spaceward journey. So strap in and prepare for launch, in five…

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…