Are women still stereotyped in Science Fiction today?
Women portrayed in Science Fiction may be the most maligned
species in the Universe of this Genre. I say this more as
a point of discussion, however, when I look back at my old Pulp SF
books, graphic novels and I see the princess of Mars characters
often beautifully illustrated by the likes of Boris Velejo. Women
are often sexy cyber-chicks like the bespectacled assassin in
Neuromancer, or helpless busty blonds who needs to be rescued from
her virginity to save the Universe. True or false?
Where next for Woman?
I write with female characters and I'm finding that I envisage them to be beautiful, highly intelligent, adaptable, and high adept at many skills. I wonder though whether I'm missing the point about using female characters. Should they be just people who happen to be female, or should the feminine and the female become a representation of the modern. Should woman become the new man in the future or does the woman transcend sex and develop into something more than either male or female?
Society
Female utopias and dystopias have been written about such as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale where there is a tipping of the balance in favour of women, or where the female has found that society is more stable without the male. I’ve yet to explore this area. I do wonder if this concept is maybe outdated as feminism has moved on considerably from the eighties let alone the sixties.
Body
Still I find myself looking at women’s physical beauty as being a major theme in many books, comics and other visual media. Is this simply the adoration of the female form or titillation? In the book of Genesis Women comes after man. This, to me, is not a signifier of women’s inferiority as I know for a fact that women are anything but inferior, I would say from my male perspective that God got the body better with Mark II than the Mark 1 version, probably the same with their minds. Evolution would suggest that there could come a time where we gain a critical mass of change and become something different – this will be inevitable as our environment changes, but what effects do our thinking and society have on our evolution?
Mind
What literature is there that explores the way women think. Am I being sexist in thinking that women think differently? I don’t think so as women do. They perceive life issues differently and can solve problems using different approaches. Of course there is a problem with that thought as people think differently but I’m sure people can clarify that better than I can here. I wonder if the way that a woman’s brain operates is more efficient or simply adapted to the roles undertaken of millions of years. If that’s true will women in the future think faster than men or develop senses that man does not have. Some say that is already the case when looking at mothers with their children.
Men
Now as you may know I’m an artist by background and I love figure drawing especially women I see, as countless artists before me that the female form has transsexual appeal. The male figure is not something that men like to talk to other men about but it’s funny how they can spend so much time working on keeping their body good; quite right too. I should exercise more often rather than typing on a computer. Men and women’s bodies representation over the last thirty years seems to have changed so much. So will women’s bodies change in the future? If there was no need for menstruation, natural birth and longer life span would women become more like men or something different all together. If we did not need to physically ‘interact’ with each other, in other words have sex, would become similar?
Superwoman
The obvious theme of women is where they have become superior to men, they become stronger and more aggressive – Amazonians. Six foot goddesses with laser guns. There we go now I’m doing it. The Barbarella movie springs to mind now. In the real world, women are now doing more of the jobs previously considered male only. The soldier is now a brave young career woman, a devoted mother, a prudent house owner and a loving wife. That’s a tall order.
I think men have a problem dealing with this multi-role lifestyle. Yet there are already so many women who take on incredible responsibilities. Where next? Prime Minister. Well Margaret Thatcher was proof that a woman could lead a country (joining ranks with Boadicea). Women politicians I feel can be really scrutinised by the press looking for an excuse to discredit them. Jacky Smith has had a hard time – her husband let her down. I tell you chaps we’ve got to do better. I should say we’re not all the same, but we all have our moments.
So is what new areas of the female condition can we explore? We’ve covered: boy meets girl, girl meets boy, girl thinks about girl but feels obliged to meet boy, girl think boy is rubbish and goes for the other girl, girl doesn’t need to meet boy or girl, and girl knows best and is better than boy. What does girl do now?
Do I need to be a woman to be able to do this? I hope not, otherwise I’m in trouble.
As ever I will love to read your feedback and advice.
For information on Feminism in Science Fiction visit:
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_science_fiction">Feminist Science Fiction on Wikipedia</a>
Where next for Woman?
I write with female characters and I'm finding that I envisage them to be beautiful, highly intelligent, adaptable, and high adept at many skills. I wonder though whether I'm missing the point about using female characters. Should they be just people who happen to be female, or should the feminine and the female become a representation of the modern. Should woman become the new man in the future or does the woman transcend sex and develop into something more than either male or female?
Society
Female utopias and dystopias have been written about such as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale where there is a tipping of the balance in favour of women, or where the female has found that society is more stable without the male. I’ve yet to explore this area. I do wonder if this concept is maybe outdated as feminism has moved on considerably from the eighties let alone the sixties.
Body
Still I find myself looking at women’s physical beauty as being a major theme in many books, comics and other visual media. Is this simply the adoration of the female form or titillation? In the book of Genesis Women comes after man. This, to me, is not a signifier of women’s inferiority as I know for a fact that women are anything but inferior, I would say from my male perspective that God got the body better with Mark II than the Mark 1 version, probably the same with their minds. Evolution would suggest that there could come a time where we gain a critical mass of change and become something different – this will be inevitable as our environment changes, but what effects do our thinking and society have on our evolution?
Mind
What literature is there that explores the way women think. Am I being sexist in thinking that women think differently? I don’t think so as women do. They perceive life issues differently and can solve problems using different approaches. Of course there is a problem with that thought as people think differently but I’m sure people can clarify that better than I can here. I wonder if the way that a woman’s brain operates is more efficient or simply adapted to the roles undertaken of millions of years. If that’s true will women in the future think faster than men or develop senses that man does not have. Some say that is already the case when looking at mothers with their children.
Men
Now as you may know I’m an artist by background and I love figure drawing especially women I see, as countless artists before me that the female form has transsexual appeal. The male figure is not something that men like to talk to other men about but it’s funny how they can spend so much time working on keeping their body good; quite right too. I should exercise more often rather than typing on a computer. Men and women’s bodies representation over the last thirty years seems to have changed so much. So will women’s bodies change in the future? If there was no need for menstruation, natural birth and longer life span would women become more like men or something different all together. If we did not need to physically ‘interact’ with each other, in other words have sex, would become similar?
Superwoman
The obvious theme of women is where they have become superior to men, they become stronger and more aggressive – Amazonians. Six foot goddesses with laser guns. There we go now I’m doing it. The Barbarella movie springs to mind now. In the real world, women are now doing more of the jobs previously considered male only. The soldier is now a brave young career woman, a devoted mother, a prudent house owner and a loving wife. That’s a tall order.
I think men have a problem dealing with this multi-role lifestyle. Yet there are already so many women who take on incredible responsibilities. Where next? Prime Minister. Well Margaret Thatcher was proof that a woman could lead a country (joining ranks with Boadicea). Women politicians I feel can be really scrutinised by the press looking for an excuse to discredit them. Jacky Smith has had a hard time – her husband let her down. I tell you chaps we’ve got to do better. I should say we’re not all the same, but we all have our moments.
So is what new areas of the female condition can we explore? We’ve covered: boy meets girl, girl meets boy, girl thinks about girl but feels obliged to meet boy, girl think boy is rubbish and goes for the other girl, girl doesn’t need to meet boy or girl, and girl knows best and is better than boy. What does girl do now?
Do I need to be a woman to be able to do this? I hope not, otherwise I’m in trouble.
As ever I will love to read your feedback and advice.
For information on Feminism in Science Fiction visit:
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_science_fiction">Feminist Science Fiction on Wikipedia</a>
Comments
Subscribe
Visitor counter
Blog Roll Centre
Blog Hints
2 Comments
Click here to sign up now.