Venus and the Seven Sexes
Encyclopedia
"Venus and the Seven Sexes" is a short science-fiction story written by William Tenn
in 1949.
It was first published in the anthology
The Girl with the Hungry Eyes, and Other Stories, and in 1953 in the anthology Science-Fiction Carnival by Fredric Brown
and Mack Reynolds
, published by Shasta Publishers
.
It was reprinted in 1968 as part of the short story
collection The Seven Sexes, a collection of Tenn's stories published by Ballantine Books
.
which requires seven different sexes
in order to reproduce
. Unfortunately, mankind is represented by a Hollywood director
, who starts to civilize them by typical Hollywood stories.
William Tenn
William Tenn was the pseudonym of Philip Klass , a British-born American science fiction author, notable for many stories with satirical elements.-Early life:...
in 1949.
It was first published in the anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
The Girl with the Hungry Eyes, and Other Stories, and in 1953 in the anthology Science-Fiction Carnival by Fredric Brown
Fredric Brown
Fredric Brown was an American science fiction and mystery writer. He was born in Cincinnati.He had two sons: James Ross Brown and Linn Lewis Brown ....
and Mack Reynolds
Mack Reynolds
Dallas McCord "Mack" Reynolds was an American science fiction writer. His pen names included Clark Collins, Mark Mallory, Guy McCord, Dallas Ross and Maxine Reynolds. Many of his stories were published in Galaxy Magazine and Worlds of If Magazine...
, published by Shasta Publishers
Shasta Publishers
Shasta Publishers was a science fiction and fantasy small press specialty publishing house founded in 1947 by Erle Melvin Korshak, T. E. Dikty, and Mark Reinsberg, who were all science fiction fans from the Chicago area...
.
It was reprinted in 1968 as part of the short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
collection The Seven Sexes, a collection of Tenn's stories published by Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
.
Plot
In the story, mankind discovers a race living on VenusVenus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
which requires seven different sexes
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
in order to reproduce
Sexual reproduction
Sexual reproduction is the creation of a new organism by combining the genetic material of two organisms. There are two main processes during sexual reproduction; they are: meiosis, involving the halving of the number of chromosomes; and fertilization, involving the fusion of two gametes and the...
. Unfortunately, mankind is represented by a Hollywood director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, who starts to civilize them by typical Hollywood stories.