Well, crap

As noted by Cory Doctorow, the entire archives of SciFiction will go *poof* as of this Friday.

There are some damned good stories there (including a bunch of Nebula winners, including Ford's "The Emperor of Ice Cream"), and I've barely read a third of them.

Alas, due to the inconsistent way the site is organized, DownThemAll can only get about half.

Smurfette: Not a role model

(Ganked from Terracinque)

Ever wonder what, exactly, Smurf creator Peyo intended Smurfette to represent? Here's his translator, as noted at The Straight Dope:

Peyo began by saying that she was "very feminine." They asked him to be more specific, so he went on to say: "She is pretty, blonde, she has all the characteristics of women…" Knowing the feminist spirit in the U.S.A., I diplomatically translated this as "all the qualities." I was banking on the fact that Peyo did not understand what I was saying (in English) and the others did not understand what he was trying to say. So naturally they asked him to expand. So he kept on going with: "She seduces, she uses trickery rather than force to get results. She is incapable of telling a joke without blowing the punch line. She is a blabbermouth but only makes superficial comments. She is constantly creating enormous problems for the Smurfs but always manages to blame it on someone else." I did my best to minimize the sexist nature of this description, but one of the participants at the meeting asked: "Would she at least be able, when the Smurfs are in danger, to take a decision that can save them?" When I translated this to Peyo, he looked astounded. "Come on now, do they expect me to make her a (female) gym teacher?" I obviously did not translate this remark. [Translation by Valteron]

Yeah, I think Peyo might have had a few issues.