Title of short story

December 27, 2009 1:02 PM

Does anybody know the title of a short science fiction story about the male population going mad and killing all the females ?

I read this story 5-6 years ago, but the story was older, I think from the 70's.

posted by Pendragon to Writing & Language (8 answers total)

Do you remember any specifics?
posted by Kimothy at 1:05 PM on December 27, 2009

Best answer: Almost certainly The Screwfly Solution by James Tiptree, Jr.
posted by Justinian at 1:10 PM on December 27, 2009

Response by poster: YES, The Screwfly Solution, that's the one, thanks. I was searching for the title for weeks.
posted by Pendragon at 1:14 PM on December 27, 2009

No problem. If it's a story from the 70s and is related in any way to men killing women, men being eradicated to make the world a better place, or men generally just being all around ungood, it's probably a Tiptree story.
posted by Justinian at 1:32 PM on December 27, 2009 [2 favorites]

Note that there was also an ok filmed version of this story, as part of the Masters of Horror series.
posted by gudrun at 1:54 PM on December 27, 2009

James Tiptree, Jr was a pen name Alice Bradley Sheldon used. She tends to explore gender issues.
posted by damn dirty ape at 9:11 PM on December 27, 2009

You didn't ask for the story itself, but for anyone else who was curious: web archive link
posted by ramenopres at 9:20 PM on December 27, 2009

Cyril Kornbluth also wrote a short story with the same theme in the '50s, but I'm afraid I can't remember the name.
posted by faceonmars at 5:31 PM on December 28, 2009