FEMINIST SCIENCE FICTION

'Feminist science fiction' is a subgenre of science fiction that focuses on the examination of 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. Feminist science fiction often illustrates 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 highlighting the 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

Literature

Examples in prose

Comic books and graphic novels

Examples of comic books and graphic novels

Film and television

Some examples of feminist science fiction in film and television

Podcasts

Examples of podcasts

Notes

External links

See also

Literature

Mary Shelley’s ''Frankenstein'' (1818) is often considered to be the first modern work of science fiction^[3] and writers such as Clare Winger Harris and Gertrude Barrows Bennett published science fiction stories in the 1920s. However, during the 1920s and 30s much pulp science fiction carried an exaggerated view of masculinity along with sexist portrayals of women.^[4] In the 1960s the genre of science fiction took a different turn, combining its existing sensationalism with political and technological critique of society. With the advent of feminism, questioning women’s roles became fair game to this "subversive, mind expanding genre."^[5]
Two key early texts are Ursula K. Le Guin's ''The Left Hand of Darkness'' (1969) and Joanna Russ' ''The Female Man'' (1970). They serve to highlight the socially constructed nature of gender roles by creating utopias that do away with this issue by creating genderless societies.^[6] Both authors were also pioneers in feminist criticism of science fiction in the 1960s and 70s, in essays collected in ''The Language of the Night'' (Le Guin, 1979) and ''How To Suppress Womens' 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, which serves to highlight the continued importance of feminism.^[7]
Octavia Butler poses complicated questions about the nature of race and gender in her book ''Kindred'' (1979). This literary form is not limited to Western feminism. The Sultana's Dream, depicting a gender-reversed purdah in an alternate and technolgically futuristic world, was published in 1905 by Bengali Muslim feminist Roquia Sakhawat Hussain.
Feminist science fiction is sometimes used at the university level to teach about the role of social constructs in understanding gender.^[8]
More often the role of feminist science fiction is to pose questions that lead us to examine the conceptual bedrock of societal institutions such as motherhood, femininity, and the political power structure of the world we live in.

Examples in prose

★ ''The Female Man'' by Joanna Russ

★ ''The Fifth Sacred Thing'' by Starhawk

★ ''The Gate to Women's Country'' by Sheri S. Tepper

★ ''Gormglaith'', by Heidi Wyss SUI

★ ''The Handmaid's Tale'' and ''Oryx and Crake'' by Margaret Atwood CAN

★ ''The Maerlande Chronicles'' (aka ''In the Mothers' Land'') by Élisabeth Vonarburg CAN

★ ''Herland'' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

★ "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" by James Tiptree, Jr.

★ ''Kindred'' and ''Parable of the Sower'' by Octavia Butler

★ ''The Left Hand of Darkness'' by Ursula K. Le Guin

★ ''Les Guérillères'' by Monique Wittig FRA

★ ''Motherlines'' and ''Walk to the End of the World'' by Suzy McKee Charnas

★ ''Native Tongue'' (1984), ''The Judas Rose'' (1987), and ''Earthsong'' (1993), by Suzette Haden Elgin

★ ''Oy Pioneer!'' by Marleen S. Barr

★ ''The Shore of Women'' by Pamela Sargent

★ ''The Stepford Wives'' by Ira Levin

★ ''Sultana's Dream'' by Roquia Sakhawat Hussain BAN

★ ''The Ship Who Searched'' by Mercedes Lackey

Comic books and graphic novels

Feminist science fiction embraces 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.^[9] By the 1970s and 1980s, true female heroes started to emerge on the pages of comics.^[10] 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 regulated to serve as 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.
Characters such as Sailor Moon (1992) brought feminism to science-fiction manga. While containing traditional fairy tale elements such as princesses and monsters, the female characters were portrayed as the heroes, rather than as damsels in distress. Ironically, it was oftentimes the male characters, particularly Gurio Umino, who needed saving.

Examples of comic books and graphic novels

★ ''Akiko'' by Mark Crilley

★ ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'' by Alan Moore and Ian Gibson

★ ''The Cat'' by Linda Fite

★ ''A Distant Soil'' by Colleen Doran

★ ''Doom Patrol'' by Rachel Pollack

★ ''Finder'' by Carla Speed McNeil

★ ''Fushigi Yuugi'' by Yuu Watase JPN

★ ''Get Your Tongue out of My Mouth, I'm Kissing You Goodbye'' by Cynthia Heimel

★ ''Hawk and Dove'' by Barbara Kesel

★ ''Meridian'' by Barbara Kesel

★ ''Sailor Moon'' by Naoko Takeuchi JPN

★ ''Supergirl'' by Peter David

★ ''Tank Girl'' by Jamie Hewlett

★ ''Tigra'' by Christina Z.

★ ''USER'' by Devin Grayson

★ ''Wonder Woman'' by William Moulton Marston and Elizabeth Holloway Marston

Film and television

Feminist science fiction in the medium of film and television, is the focus of identifying the tensions of feminism within those types of works. Film could be anything from television, to mainstream Hollywood blockbusters. The concept of feminism has not been a mainstream topic of discussion in film and television, but has been acknowledged as a subgenre of science fiction. The beginning of this came from men going off to World War II, and the women being left behind to take on the scientific roles that the men left behind. This notion of women being able to take on these roles greatly influenced the ways that film was constructed thereafter.^[11] Feminist science fiction in film and television helps to show gender roles and relationships that are portrayed. The media give way to suggestions about new ideas of thinking about social constructs and the ways that feminists influence science.^[12] These social constructions about the roles of males and females are creatively being broken down and questioned. Feminist science fiction leaves a window of opportunity to challenge the norms of society and suggest new standards of the ways societies view gender.^[13] It deconstructs the male/female categories and shows that female roles are different from feminine roles. Feminism influences the film industry with the progression of the science fiction genre as a means for creating new ways of exploring masculinity/femininity and male/female roles.^[14]

Some examples of feminist science fiction in film and television

★ ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (television series)

★ ''Wonder Woman'' (television series)

★ '' (television series)

★ ''Born in Flames'' (1983)

★ ''The E.Y.E.S. of Mars'' (1994) JPN

★ ''The Handmaid's Tale'' (1990)

★ ''Rain Without Thunder'' (1993)

★ ''Season of the Witch'' (1973)

★ ''The Stepford Wives'' (1975)

Podcasts

Podcasts are one of the newest ways that science fiction is currently being explored. New writers are using podcasts to produce more material and expand the boundary of the genre.

Examples of podcasts

★ The Secret World Chronicle

★ Variant Frequencies

★ Escape Pod

★ Geek Fu Action Grip

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. Stableford, Brian (2005). ''The A to Z of Science Fiction Literature''. Scarecrow Press, 114.
4. Clute, John (1995). ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction''. "Martin's Griffin", 1344.
5. Clute, John (1995). ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction''. "Martin's Griffin", 424.
6. Elyce Rae Helford, in Westfahl, Gary. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Greenwood Press, 2005: 290.
7. Sturgis, Susanna. Octavia E. Butler: June 22 1947–February 24 2006: ''The Women's Review of Books'', 23(3): 19 May 2006.
8. 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
9. Wright, Bradford (2003). ''Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America''. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 219.
10. Wright, Bradford (2003). ''Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America''. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 221.
11. Answers.com. "Science Fiction". February 1 2007. http://www.answers.com/topic/science-fiction
12. Miniscule, Caroline. The Thunder Child. Science Fiction and Fantasy Web Magazine and Sourcebooks. Fiction Book Reviews. "Stand by for Mars!". http://thethunderchild.com/Reviews/Books/NonFiction/FilmStudies/Women50s.html
13. 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.
14. Hollinger, Veronica. "Feminist Theory and Science Fiction". ''The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction''. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2003. 125-134.

External links

★ Feminist Science Fiction

★ The Secret World Chronicle

★ Variant Frequencies

★ Escape Pod

★ Geek Fu Action Grip

See also

★ WisCon

★ Gender in science fiction

★ James Tiptree, Jr. Award

★ Women in science fiction

★ Women's writing in English