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).
