Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Bayreuth, language: English, abstract: Understanding gender as a performative act defining womanliness and manliness, this paper analyses why women are always linked with nanotechnology education in science fiction as a traditionally masculine genre. By concentrating mainly on the novels Queen City Jazz and Diamond Age its focus lies not only on the way in which the female pupils are educated, but also on how womanliness is defined and connected with nanotechnology.