Reply to comment

and i'm glad she did, or i'd be worried i was the only one seeing this in the book - the whole story is analogous to women attempting to gain entry into the "priesthood" of science.  oedipa sees the mystery all around her, is intrigued and perhaps plagued by it, but never allowed in on its secrets. there are those who would help her, if they had true entree themselves, but generally they don't.   it reminds me of an episode in my childhood, when i was trying to figure out nuclear power (i was maybe 9 and very precocious) and it drove me nuts that my dad couldn't answer my questions - well-educated he may be, but when it gets to specialized physics knowledge you've got to ask the right people.  anyway, oedipa is taking in data from all over but never getting the full picture (yet, anyway).  sounds like science to me.  and she's finding herself turned out by the very members-only club she's investigating.  gender?  sure.  it's an analogy.  i'd like to leave y'all with a quote: "science is physics, everything else is stamp collecting." - ernest rutherford.