It is interesting that this is the third Heinlein book that I have read and a quick flick through some of the reviews I notice a lot of people carrying on about how outdated and sexist this book is. Look, come off it, not only was this book written in 1963, meaning that it was before our own 'enlightened' society in regards to sexual equality (and come on, while I am all for sexual equality, putting a completely unskilled woman into the role of director of a multinational company just so that the company can reach its quota of women on the board is just ridiculous), but the fact that the main character, who is a woman, is complaining through the book about the how glass ceiling that will make it very difficult for her to become a space pilot makes me think that there is more to this book that most people care to see.

The story is the journal of a young adolescent lady, Podkayne, who is going on her first space flight from Mars to Earth via Venus. As a book I found that there was a lot of detail as to who she was, who her family was, and the particulars of the voyage, though I was quite surprised that they only got as a far as Venus. To me, I found that the end was pretty much tacked on to create some conflict within the book, and a part of me felt that Heinlein could easily have dropped the conflict and simply carried on with her experience of her first space flight. Oh, and I found the ending to be quite disappointing as well.

As I was reading this book I suspected that there would be allegations of sexism, but I suspect that too many people are reading too much into many of the books that they are attacking. In fact I feel that Heinlein is actually criticising the existence of the glass ceiling, suggesting that Podkayne is not only desiring a role only males occupy, but that she has the courage to make it happen. In fact I did not really find anything all that wrong with the character, though she may have been a little on the innocent side (though it is clear that Mars is a puritanical society).

Heinlein does a wonderful job at creating the societies in which Podkayne visits (though we are told about Mars and she visits Venus, and that is about it). I note that his Venusian society is an incredibly liberal society in once sense, and very conservative in another. I say conservative because the corporation controls everything. In fact nobody can open up or run a business without the corporation getting its cut. He is also scathing of casinos, in that he suggests that casinos will purposely allow you to win giving you a false sense of being able to beat the house, before they pretty much bleed you dry.

I do not believe Heinlein is out to 'put women in their place' in this book, but rather to attempt to write a story through the eyes of a woman, and the struggles that she faces. I do not believe it is sexist, and the fact that one of my bosses at work (who is a feminist by the way) said that she quite liked Heinlein, and even quoted this book as one that she had read. This makes me think that it is nowhere near as sexist as some people claim that it is. The only thing that I really did not like about it was the rather rushed and contrived ending.