Feminist science fiction

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Le Guin's Left Hand Of Darkness
Le Guin's Left Hand Of Darkness

Feminist science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political and personal power of men and women. Some of the most notable feminist science fiction works have illustrated these themes using utopias to explore a society in which gender differences or gender power imbalances do not exist, or dystopias to explore worlds in which gender inequalities are intensified, thus asserting a need for feminist work to continue.[1] According to Elyce Rae Helford:

"Science fiction and fantasy serve as important vehicles for feminist thought, particularly as bridges between theory and practice. No other genres so actively invite representations of the ultimate goals of feminism: worlds free of sexism, worlds in which women's contributions (to science) are recognized and valued, worlds in which the diversity of women's desire and sexuality, and worlds that move beyond gender."[2]

Contents

[edit] Literature

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Women writers have played key roles in science fiction and fantasy literature, often addressing themes of gender and other concerns of interest to women. One of the first writers of science fiction was Mary Shelley, whose novel Frankenstein dealt with the asexual creation of new life, a re-telling of the Adam and Eve story.

Women writers in the utopian literature movement of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, at the time of first wave feminism, often addressed sexism. Charlotte Perkins Gilman did so in Herland, for example. The Sultana's Dream (1905) by Bengali Muslim feminist Roquia Sakhawat Hussain depicts a gender-reversed purdah in an alternate and terminologically futuristic world. During the 1920s writers such as Clare Winger Harris and Gertrude Barrows Bennett published science fiction stories written from female perspectives and occasionally dealt with gender and sexuality based topics. Meanwhile, much pulp science fiction published during 1920s and 1930s carried an exaggerated view of masculinity along with sexist portrayals of women.[3] By the 1960s science fiction was combining sensationalism with political and technological critiques of society. With the advent of feminism, women’s roles were questioned in this "subversive, mind expanding genre."[4]

Two notable texts early in second wave feminism are Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) and Joanna Russ' The Female Man (1970). Each highlights the socially constructed aspects of gender roles by creating utopias with genderless societies.[5] Both authors were pioneers in feminist criticism of science fiction during the 1960s and 70s through essays collected in The Language of the Night (Le Guin, 1979) and How To Suppress Women's Writing (Russ, 1983). In The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood tells a dystopic tale of a society in which women are stripped of all freedom, hence highlighting a continued need for feminism.[6] Octavia Butler poses complicated questions about the nature of race and gender in Kindred (1979).

By the 1970s the science fiction community was confronting questions of feminism and sexism within science fiction culture itself. The "feminist panel" at the 1976 World Science Fiction Convention was organized against considerable resistance by multiple Hugo award winning fan writer and professor of literature Susan Wood. Reactions to the appearance of feminists among fannish ranks led indirectly to the creation of A Women's APA and WisCon.

Feminist science fiction is sometimes taught at the university level to explore the role of social constructs in understanding gender.[7]

[edit] Examples in prose

[edit] Comic books and graphic novels

Feminist science fiction is evidenced in the globally popular mediums of comic books, manga, and graphic novels. In the early 1960s, Marvel Comics already contained some strong female characters, although they often suffered from stereotypical female weakness such as fainting after intense exertion.[8] By the 1970s and 1980s, true female heroes started to emerge on the pages of comics.[9] This was helped by the emergence of self-identified feminist writers including Ann Nocenti, Linda Fite, and Barbara Kesel. As female visibility in comics increased, the "fainting heroine" type began to fade into the past. However, some female comic book writers, such as Gail Simone, believe that female characters are still relegated to plot devices (see Women in Refrigerators).

One of the first appearances of a strong female character was that of Wonder Woman co-created by husband and wife team William Moulton Marston and Elizabeth Holloway Marston. In December 1941, Wonder Woman came to life on the pages of All Star Comics volume eight. The character later spawned a television series starring Lynda Carter, and played a role in animated series such as Super Friends and the Justice League. A film adaptation, Wonder Woman, is currently underway.

Feminism in science fiction shoujo manga has been a theme in the works of Moto Hagio among others, for whom the writings of Ursula Le Guin have been a major influence.[10]

Sailor Moon, an example of a Japanese manga with strong female lead characters.
Sailor Moon, an example of a Japanese manga with strong female lead characters.

[edit] Examples of comic books and graphic novels

[edit] Film and television

DC Comics' Wonder Woman
DC Comics' Wonder Woman

Feminism has driven the creation of a considerable body of action-oriented science fiction with female protagonists: Wonder Woman[11] and the The Bionic Woman during the time of the organized women's movement in the 1970s; Terminator 2 and the Alien tetralogy in the 1980s; and Xena, Warrior Princess and Buffy the Vampire Slayer[12]. 2001 science fiction TV series Dark Angel featured a powerful female protagonist, with gender roles between her and the main male character generally reversed.[13]

However, feminists have also created science fiction that directly engages with feminism beyond the creation of female action heroes. Television and film have offered opportunities for expressing new ideas about social structures and the ways feminists influence science.[14] Feminist science fiction provides a means to challenge the norms of society and suggest new standards for how societies view gender.[15] The genre also deals with male/female categories, showing how female roles can differ from feminine roles. Hence feminism influences the film industry by creating new ways of exploring and looking at masculinity/femininity and male/female roles.[16]

[edit] In film and television

[edit] Podcasts

Writers in the 21st century produce science fiction, including feminist science fiction, using podcasts, including:

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Elyce Rae Helford, in Westfahl, Gary. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Greenwood Press, 2005: 289-290
  2. ^ Elyce Rae Helford, in Westfahl, Gary. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Greenwood Press, 2005:291
  3. ^ Clute, John (1995). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. "Martin's Griffin", 1344.
  4. ^ Clute, John (1995). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. "Martin's Griffin", 424.
  5. ^ Elyce Rae Helford, in Westfahl, Gary. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Greenwood Press, 2005: 290.
  6. ^ Sturgis, Susanna. Octavia E. Butler: June 22, 1947–February 24, 2006: The Women's Review of Books, 23(3): 19 May 2006.
  7. ^ Lips, Hilary M. "Using Science Fiction to Teach the Psychology of Sex and Gender" Teaching of Psychology 1990, Vol. 17, No 3, pp 197-198
  8. ^ Wright, Bradford (2003). Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 219.
  9. ^ Wright, Bradford (2003). Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 221.
  10. ^ Genders OnLine Journal - Japan's Feminist Fabulation: Reading Marginal with unisex reproduction as a keyconcept
  11. ^ The original creators of Wonder Woman explicitly stated that they wanted a female hero. "Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don't want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women's strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman." William Moulton Marston, in The American Scholar (1943).
  12. ^ Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy, has frequently self-identified as a feminist, and established that his motives for creating the character of Buffy were feminist.
  13. ^ Jowett, Lorna. "To the Max: Embodying Intersections in Dark Angel". Reconstruction: Studies in contemporary culture.. http://reconstruction.eserver.org/054/jowett.shtml, 2005.
  14. ^ Miniscule, Caroline. The Thunder Child: Science Fiction and Fantasy Web Magazine and Source-books. Fiction Book Reviews. "'Stand by for Mars!' (review of Women Scientists in Fifties Science Fiction Movies"
  15. ^ Westfahl, Gary. "Feminism". The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: themes, works and wonders. Westport, Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 2005. 289-291
  16. ^ Hollinger, Veronica. "Feminist Theory and Science Fiction". The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003. 125-134.

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[edit] See also