Language English Publication date 1949 Country United States of America | Originally published 1949 Publisher Avon Publication type Anthology | |
Genre(s) Science Fiction short story Published in The Girl with the Hungry Eyes, and Other Stories Similar The Seven Sexes, Project Hush, Here Comes Civilization, Time in Advance, The Square Root of M | ||
"Venus and the Seven Sexes" is a science-fiction story by American writer William Tenn. It was first published in the anthology The Girl with the Hungry Eyes, and Other Stories (Avon Publishing) in 1949, and then in 1953 in the anthology Science-Fiction Carnival by Fredric Brown and Mack Reynolds (Shasta Publishers).
The story was reprinted in 1968 in The Seven Sexes, an anthology of William Tenn's short stories (Ballantine Books). It also appeared in the 2001 anthology of William Tenn's works titled Immodest Proposals (NESFA Press).
Plot
Mankind discovers a race of creatures living on Venus who require seven different sexes in order to reproduce. Unfortunately, mankind is represented on Venus by a Hollywood director, Hogan Shlestertrap, who starts to civilize them by means of typical Hollywood movies.