Rummaging around in the internet I stumbled across the phrase “Tiptree’s hippopotamus.” Since I was friends with “James Tiptree”/Alice Sheldon, I was curious as to what that could mean.
I typed the phrase into Google, which didn’t give me much. However, it did provide an AI summary:
The “Tiptree’s hippopotamus” refers to the trophy given to winners of the James Tiptree Jr. Award (now the Otherwise Award), which is a hippopotamus figurine. This unusual award choice is rooted in the story behind the pen name “James Tiptree Jr.” and the award’s mission to explore and expand gender roles in science fiction.
The Origin and Significance
- The Pen Name: The award is named after Alice B. Sheldon, a woman who wrote science fiction under the masculine pseudonym “James Tiptree Jr.” to avoid having her work stereotyped as “women’s writing”. Her true identity remained a secret for years, challenging assumptions about gender and authorship in the genre.
- The Hippopotamus: The specific origin of the hippopotamus is a reference to a humorous anecdote or a specific private joke related to Tiptree/Sheldon’s life or work, although the exact detail is not specified in the snippets. The statue itself is intended to be an unconventional and playful trophy, reflecting the award’s mission to highlight and celebrate science fiction or fantasy that subverts or challenges traditional gender roles.
- The Award’s Mission: The award was established to recognize works that explore gender in groundbreaking ways, in honor of Tiptree’s legacy of challenging gender boundaries in both her writing and her public persona. The unconventional trophy symbolizes this non-traditional approach.
Winners of the award receive not a standard plaque or trophy, but a quirky, often unique, hippopotamus figurine, along with a cash prize and chocolate. The award is now known as the Otherwise Award, continuing its mission to recognize “speculative fiction that explores and expands our understanding of gender”.
I was a member of the Motherboard of the Tiptree Award for twenty years or so, and while we commissioned a piece of original artwork for every winner, we never asked any artist for a hippopotamus figurine — at least during my tenure. I can’t speak for what happened before or after my time on the Board, but I think I would have heard about a years-long hippo reign.
The piece is a pretty accurate summary of the Award — if we disregard the river horse.