Feminism and Battlestar Galactica, Part One

This is a series of posts in honour of the fact that my sister and I will be watching the final three episodes Tuesday night. Now that I’ve convinced her I need to make more converts! This is one of the finest series ever to be on television. You should watch it.

      Science Fiction has traditionally been viewed as a genre that holds little to interest women. Television producers, film-makers and writers will say that women get bored of the special effects extravaganza or turned off by the pseudo-scientific technobabble (see: Neuromancer). Of course this is a crazy over-generalization. I know that many women, like me, enjoy a rollicking good explosion. There are women out there who love technology and science and would roll their eyes at the continuation of a sexist stereotype that insists that these topics do not interest women. But the fact remains – most women avoid Science Fiction as if the genre as a whole has terrifically bad body odour. Why is that? The major sci-fi roadblock to women, I think, is that it is predominantly a genre created by men for men. It has long been a bastion of sexist stereotypes and brutal misogyny. I can understand why some women are turned off by the genre as a whole. Reading lauded books like Brave New World while trying to choke down the sexism is pretty hard. So is having to watch guys slobber over Princess Leia in slave chains and a bikini. This review is directed at women (and men) who find the concept of science fiction about as appetizing as football* because of the sexism (and maybe you do not care much for space battles or technology, too).

 Why Battlestar Galactica is super freaking awesome and you should watch it

Awesome reason 1: Sex and Relationships

We are all used to seeing this happen: “I’m a sexually liberated female and that means I can have sex like a man – well, let a lot of men and women have sexy time with me without promising anything”.** Battlestar Galactica (BSG) manages to be sex positive in a feminist way. The show portrays sex as part of the healthy life of adult men and women. It is something that – of course- can be used and misused – but it is also something that is natural to desire. Sexuality is healthier when expressed. BSG also never succumbs to the stupid myth that men somehow have a greater drive and desire for sex than women do. Men and women in this show crave sexual equally – that is, characters all crave it at different levels, some more than others, but that is not a binary broken down along gender lines.

This show is great because it manages to be sex positive without over-focusing on the female naked body. There are plenty of sex scenes but none seem really exploitative (except when they are meant to be seen that way, more on this in part two). Women and men are naked in equal degrees on this show. Furthermore the inhabitants of this world have communal showers and bathrooms. Nudity is not over-sexualized. The weird puritanical nonsense about nudity that one can find in most movies and television is not apparent. Nudity is a fact of life. Nudity is not always about sex. (Who knew?!)

Sex is also never portrayed as the purview of the young. The couples vary in age. Sex is something that can be enjoyed by an older couple (and is something they crave too!) as well as a younger one. There is a caveat to my thumbs up to this part of the show. The show features older male-younger female couples without balancing the equation with a younger man-older woman couple. Anyone else completely sick of that? A show that is as progressive as this one is should also have featured an older woman paired with a younger partner. The expectation that the man will always be older than the woman has really started to irk me. The show, however, does feature couples where the woman is in a position of power over the man or the more dominant partner.

AND biracial couples are common and unremarkable in this show! I could see how some people would argue that not dealing with the complications and problems that a biracial couple face in this world could be a problem. Especially since the colour of this show is still predominantly white. But here’s where the nifty science fiction comes into play. Ugly racism rears its head not against other humans but against their machine enemies (called Cylons). The show uses the romantic pairing of a human man and a Cylon woman to say things about race and biracial pairings that I do not think they could get away with if the racism was real-world colour of skin stuff (fun fact: the man is white and the Cylon woman is Asian). The show pulls no punches in examining the pressures that society can put on a couple who come from different racial backgrounds. How do you negotiate around hatred and bigotry? How much pressure is too much pressure on a biracial couple? How do different people react when this couple produces children? What does it take to overcome prejudice? This show is not afraid to go to the ugly places. It is not just the ‘bad’ characters that are prejudiced against the mixed race couples. Characters we love make ugly comments and snap judgements. This show makes no bones about the fact that there are always going to be racist assholes who will never get over it – and never cease to think that it is their business to tell you their problems with your relationship. But what the show makes clear again and again is that THEY are the problem and the relationship is not. The show powerfully argues for the strength in the blending of races (but I will not spoil you any further - since I’m sure you are going to watch it, right?)

Caveat to this BSG tongue bath: I am sorry to say that this wonderful show does not give equal time to same-sex relationships that it does to other types of relationships. Gay couples exist on the show – and one’s sexual orientation is shown to be of little importance to both the military and the civil government. An admiral is an out lesbian – and no one expects her to apologize or keep her personal life hidden. Several of the secondary characters are also gay. None of the main characters or plot lines, however, address issues facing the gay community or homophobia. This show is too heteronormative. It insists on a future where being gay is never a problem or a hot-button issue – but never highlights gay love. Saying something without demonstrating it is not good enough. Especially for a show that does such a good job with other hard and important political and social issues.

       

*Okay – bad example – but MAN I hate football.

**I am not slut-shaming. Sex is awesome! If you are careful and safe and never feel any sort of pressure into it – choose what you want to do with your own body. Experiment! Go freaking nuts! I’m more worried about a culture that equates sexual liberation with a type of casual sex that pushes the boundaries farther and farther into porn land and not real life. Maybe this deserves a separate post but for now: check out Make Love Not Porn

Part Two: Hot Button Feminist Topics in the BSG universe

Coming soon!