It is in this moment when we understand his hurt and loss, which allows us to grant him sympathy, if only for one moment. And in this moment we glimpse how the unyielding expectations that have been placed upon both men and women have power enough to clip all wings. It is not uncommon for fiction to celebrate the disenfranchised, but the Emswhiller twist is to cast post-menopausal women in a series of leading lady roles. In an Emshwiller story, an old-lady character, with all her charms and flaws, maintains both dignity and an unnerving sensuality. She refuses to go gently into that good night, strutting out wings if that's what it takes to make a statement.
Any old lady is potentially a goddess or the consort of aliens.
The person you first spy may not be at all related to the person you will get by the end of a story. All will never quite belong, but through work and quirk they will learn to find a place in a strange and ever-changing world. In Ms. Emshwiller's satiric novel Carmen Dog , the world is changing, not just metaphorically, but physically. Animals metamorphose into women while women become wild animals, no doubt signifying an evolutionary leap up. A cherished silky-haired Irish Setter named Pooch takes on the role of loving mother when her mistress turns into a snapping turtle who thinks only of her appetites, and bites her own infant.