Ivanova is exactly who she is; she's not being feminine or tough because
somebody told her to be. To call her a "women's liberation activist" in this
context, where it isn't an issue anymore, is like pointing to any african-
american without shackles and saying he's an "anti-slavery activist." Any
chains she has, she forged herself; they are not the ones society on one side
or the other forced on her.

Re: space exploration...I feel much the same way. Thing is, of course,
the SF of the 50s and early 60s, really the golden age of SF, fed the popular
consciousness with the idea of space travel, which culminated in a general
awareness, and an urge to try it. It's the role of SF to nudge people in the
right direction. If more and more TV and print points to the future, and to
the stars, it may help wake people up to that possibility.

If you make them *want* it today, they will build it tomorrow.

jms