Unsexist General!
I meant to come back to say that the Sector General books about the giant space station hospital (and interstellar ambulance) actually IMPROVED past book 6 or 7. That’s rare for a long running series !
And the women’s brains just can’t handle the top job thing was undone, both from alien and human women deciding it was bullshit! I think something in the 70s or early 80s happened and James White had a change of heart. Someone gave him a little talking to?!
It is lovely that he evolved – I highly approve!
Once the point of view characters started bouncing from alien to alien, the books got more interesting and White had more scope for depth! Cultures clash, people figure out how to work together across those cultures and I think you can read the entire series usefully through a disability justice lens! Whatever that means.
What I mean is that the different species, who have very different needs and abilities, work hard to accommodate each other! In a workplace and in their daily lives as well. That’s pretty exciting. It is the bit I liked the best about that one Becky Chambers novel where the dog-like alien is running a hotel.