Editing Isaac Asimov (section)

=== Romance and women ===

In the early days of science fiction some authors and critics felt that the romantic elements were inappropriate in science fiction stories, which were supposedly to be focused on science and technology. Isaac Asimov was a supporter of this point of view, expressed in his 1938-1939 letters to ''[[Astounding]]'', where he described such elements as "mush" and "slop". To his dismay, these letters were met with a strong opposition.<ref name=eld>{{Cite book|last=Davin|first=Eric Leif|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoNDebTvUnsC&pg=PA4|title=Partners in Wonder: Women and the Birth of Science Fiction, 1926-1965|date=2006|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-1267-0|language=en |pages=3–4}}</ref>

Asimov attributed the lack of romance and sex in his fiction to the "early imprinting" from starting his writing career when he had never been on a date and "didn't know anything about girls".{{r|earlyyears25_28}} He was sometimes criticized for the general absence of sex (and of [[extraterrestrial life]]) in his science fiction. He claimed he wrote ''[[The Gods Themselves]]'' (1972) to respond to these criticisms,<ref>{{cite book |last=Asimov |first=Isaac |title=In Joy Still Felt |date=1980 |page=567}}</ref> which often came from [[New Wave science fiction]] (and often British) writers. The second part (of three) of the novel is set on an alien world with three sexes, and the sexual behavior of these creatures is extensively depicted.