The Sword and Laser discussion

It's been a while since I read this book, but I wanted to write a little about it. The thing that sticks out as very memorable is the parallels between Katrina and Shirley.

**Maybe a bit spoilery**

Katrina and Shirley have some interesting similarities in their stories. Both of them are abused by their parents in different ways. Both of them have a clash between how they see themselves and how the world sees them. Both of them are objectified, Katrina sexually and Shirley as a utilitarian tool. Both of them find freedom or escape in the studio. I think the rejection they both feel is what draws them together in the story.

What's interesting is that Aoki put in these parallels without really making Shirley into an obvious trans allegory. Older scifi often handled
themes of oppression and marginalization purely through allegory. It's a good way to get by censors and talk about something a majority of the
audience isn't ready to hear about. More recently, you've seen more and more real representation of marginalized groups. Sometimes, now, you'll
see real identities presented alongside their would-be fantastical allegories. An example that comes to mind is the podcast The Strange Case of Starship Iris, where one crewmember is a genderless alien while most of the crew is LGBT, including a trans man and a nonbinary person.

Here, though, I don't see Shirley as an allegory for any specific identity. Maybe some people read her differently, but she is fundamentally an AI, and her experiences are that of an AI that wants to be part of her family. And yet, a struggle that is mostly fantastical relates well with someone who could be a real person.

Anyway, it was an interesting aspect of the story. I'd be interested to see if others saw it the same way.