I love sci-fi and grew up devouring as much as I could.
But honestly, reading the older sci-fi is painful when it comes to gender portrayals. When Heinlein represents some of the better portrayals, you know you have issues. Even the more liberal representations feel ham-fisted and vapid. It's enough that I've grown very leery of anything before the 90s, which is a shame because there's a lot of important stuff before then...but reading it pokes the wounds of too many sexist/racist older relatives (plus "is this what I'll seem like by the standards of a few decades in the future?") to let me enjoy the stories.
But honestly, reading the older sci-fi is painful when it comes to gender portrayals. When Heinlein represents some of the better portrayals, you know you have issues. Even the more liberal representations feel ham-fisted and vapid. It's enough that I've grown very leery of anything before the 90s, which is a shame because there's a lot of important stuff before then...but reading it pokes the wounds of too many sexist/racist older relatives (plus "is this what I'll seem like by the standards of a few decades in the future?") to let me enjoy the stories.