Stranger in a Strange Land question

I agree with the idea that Heinlein deliberately left it unstated who was Michael's first. He himself probably didn't bother to decide who it was as he wrote.

Tina wrote "it is nothing more than a sexual fantasy for young men..."

Nothing more? If it was only that, the book wouldn't be renowned in the slightest. You can find sexual fantasy for young men in lots of lesser, inferior products.

Tina wrote "It was written during the era when in scifi/fantasy women were portrayed as a sexual slaves, concubines, or sexual objects..."

Agreed. There is often that aspect in the books of that era (present among many others). What I assert though, is that there's nothing necessarily wrong with a sexually-charged storyline, or 'sexual object characters', per se. It might be a little limiting if there was never any other style of book; but as long as there is diversity, it still has a place with us today.

Although I enjoyed this book when I read it, it is nothing more than a sexual fantasy for young men. It was written during the era when in scifi/fantasy women were portrayed as a sexual slaves, concubines, or sexual objects and their role in society was nothing but to want to gratify a man. Geez, so glad there are better story lines these days.

I'm going to have to agree with Tina, though, when I read this at the age of 19, it was fun, and, I felt at the time, opened my mind up. But that was just the beginning! There are so many vastly better books out there!

As far as the first-to-the-mat question? Beats me.

Interesting question. Who did Valentine Michael Smith first have sex with? Well, if she wasn't Jill, it should have been Jill. It has to be Jill. I think. OK, OK, I'll study the text [and sorry, I refuse to even go to the Long Version; for me the original Short Version is the carved-in-stone Heinlein edict]. @hg47

Can we all agree, at least, that Valentine Michael Smith's first kiss (that has sexual overtones) is with Jill underwater at the end of part XV? @hg47

OK, at the end of XXIV, Valentine Michael Smith and one of his female water brothers have sex. In my opinion, Robert A. Heinlein is deliberately being ambiguous in this passage; not so as to set up some "Clue-like" game for readers with hidden pointers scattered among his writing, but because Hein felt that doubt concerning this point strengthened the novel. This is my personal opinion, at this time, circa 2013, Congress 113, which is open to revision and modification by other GoodReads science fiction geeks showing me the error of my ways. But I like the ambiguity. Don't try to hit me over the head with the Long Version of STRANGER. Whenever I have to cut 10,000 or 40,000 words from one of my novels I ALWAYS eventually prefer the shorter version.

"M" may know better than all of us, having read STRANGER 10+ times. But s/he is the one who asked the original question. If "M" is the über geek, I'm going to keep arguing that Robert A. "went dark" on this point for a legitimate literary reason. @hg47

I always thought it was Dorcas; She was massaging Mahamoud prior to that and fell off when he sat up, she was minding the kitchen with Duke(or was it Larry). Later, Mike awakes and admits he is hungry to the mystery female. They go to the pool to eat, relax and as Mike gets an erection, grow closer. I spent some time comparing dialogue styles of the women in question to satisfy my curiosity; I think it is Dorcas (on "her usual feed"). Not sure; plenty of ambiguity. I like a good mystery. Doesn't it make sense that the author would hide this quirky fact, since it is always the first thing we silly halfminds want to know???

As Heinlein left things ambiguous I can't say for sure, but I will show my reasoning. Please poke holes in it if you can.

It was not Jill. Jill is practical and immediate, not prone to day dreaming or wondering. She never shows much interest in Mars beyond what is necessary to learn the language. Mike's anonymous sexual partner asks 'what are they doing on Mars right now?' and I think this question would be atypical for Jill.
Also, as a nurse who's hobby was men, it would be atypical of her to even know there is a star called Antares...she is portrayed as having a singled minded devotion to nursing and dating, and her education in other areas is demonstrably lacking before the beginning of the story.

It was not Anne. While Anne was the most visibly emotional about Mike's first sexual encounter, as a witness she would never be confused between a star and a planet 'is that Mars or Antares?'.
The powers of observation required to be a witness are so great that to mistake a twinkling star for an untwinkling, red planet would be ludicrous. Anne would have to be lying, which, while normal for people trying to ingratiate themselves to each other, would be a big sin for Mike and his water brothers.

It was not Dorcas. This is my weakest proof. Dorcas appears submissive, and while flirtatious she is also the most squeamish of the group. At the point of contact, Mike's first sexual parter is confidant and dominant, practical instead of flirtatious, and is the one to put it in 'turn just a little. I'll help.'

This leaves Miriam, who is confident and dominant, not as observant as Anne, more well rounded than Jill, and more practical and assertive than Dorcas. It is also interesting to note that she eventually marries Mahmoud, the closest thing you can find to Mike. It's also interesting to note she's a redhead...just like Heinlein's wife, who changed many of his views on life and philosophy and to whom he was singularly devoted.

I suspect Miriam was based off of his wife, and as such would be the one to receive the honor of being Mike's first. This would also make a writer more prone to secrecy, either in the spirit of playfulness or latent shame of having written himself as a cuckold.

The mystery does deepen and strengthen the story, and I suspect Heinlein enjoyed layering as much intrigue into this cusp as possible.

Considering how shallow and extremely annoying Heinlein made the retarded housewife bunnies behave in the beginning of the book, I'm surprised anyone would care enough to even remember their names...

Kissing is communicating, and what Michael did that was different from "earth-men" was to give his whole and entire attention to what he was doing with whomever! It must have been wonderful to be kissed that way.

Anne. When Michael goes into contemplative mode in the next few days, all the girls get mopey and out of sorts, but "Anne was the worst".

Heinlein was anti-gay and would never have included same-sex encounters for Michael.