Women in scifi

[woodface]

There's discussion on the SW boards about the lack of women as heroes in scifi/fantasy. It made me think about a few things, although not all are as closely related to the subject.

I agree that there are a lot more men portrayed as hero than women. It seems natural too. Fact remains is that most societies are patriarchal and that human history is dominated by war and violence. For centuries a hero was a warrior/soldier/knight/hunter. Most legends and stories revolve around the stereotype of the warrior. Even today, a majority of entertainment still revolves around this character and war/violence remains the centerpoint or mainspring in the stories we tell. A few strong female characters are turning up in our stories though; Ripley, Janeway, Jadzia Dax, Aeryn, Sam Carter and Eowyn are just a few of them. Let's stand still on Eowyn for a moment. Eowyn seems to portray what is happening in our society. She is a woman who has to dress herself up as a male in order to be allowed to take her place in battle. Most female characters that could be considered "heroes" seem to be forced into the same position. Fact is, this is not likely to change any time soon. The majority of the world still thinks in terms of the classical male hero and in order for this to change, we'll need a few extra millenia of human history in which the woman can stand on an equal basis to man.

This made me think about the shippers amongst us. Recent developments in SG fandom have proven that even women still think in that classical way. Sam is often portrayed as submissive to Jack. Jack has to save her from violence and then woes her. Our idea of romance still walks the same fine lines as it did 50 - 500 - 5000 - ... years ago. Man is strong, woman needs to be saved. Sure, not everything and everyone thinks this way (thank goodness) but it is still very much alive amongst the fans. The outrage over recent developments in the show should confirm this.

So where does slash come in? What makes the female mind scratch the woman in the story all together and replace her with another man? Is this because suddenly our society is more tolerant towards homosexuality (let me insert a snort right here)? In some slash fics one of the men seems to be given a vagina and he is made to represent the emotional, female character. In others we have two warrior getting down and dirty, and other fics simply show the warrior getting in touch with his female side. I would be able to get slash better if it was written and read by gay men. However, the majority is by and for hetero women. Which puzzles me and makes my mind boggle because I really can't come up with a historical precedent or an explanation for it. Is it a matter of ascribing female characteristics to the warrior stereotype and thus softening the type and opening it up for female characters in the long run? Or is it just a sexual fixation that alienates the reader on a more personal basis but still allows the fantasy to be caught up in the romance?

I simply do not know.

ETA: Maybe it's a simple matter of penis envy.

Coming later today: Jara ponders over Weir/Sheppard

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