*Note from Curator: I have chosen to feature this guest post from Megan Barber because it articulates my own feelings about sexism in sf, but in a way that is both analytical and enjoyable to read. Megan was a member of the class who consistently and confidently spoke about Gender and Sexuality studies and its intersection with sf. I find her opinions to have a very organic and passionate feel, and I respect her very much.

Texts Featured:

Joanna Russ, “The Image of Women in Science Fiction”

Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Samuel Delany, Trouble on Triton 

While I enjoyed all of the novels we read this semester I was often struck by the lack of female representation in each of them. As Joanna Russ puts it, “There are plenty of images of women in science fiction. There are hardly any women” (Russ 208). In Joanna Russ’ essay, “The Image of Women in Science Fiction” she addresses the blatant sexism that permeates the genre by highlighting the narrative techniques sci-fi authors utilize and categorizing the various portrayals of women throughout the genre’s history. For example, Russ states that in “literate” science fiction, authors will frequently model the gender roles in their novel after modern society. Alternatively, authors of low quality science fiction tend to borrow their gender roles from more primitive societies. Russ notes that there are several common themes used in these “space operas” to develop the gender roles for their respective novels. Here are two examples of these themes: “Women’s powers are passive and involuntary—an odd idea that turns up again and again, not only in space opera. If female characters are given abilities, these are often innate abilities which cannot be developed or controlled, e.g. clairvoyance, telepathy, hysterical strength, unconscious psi power, eidetic memory, perfect pitch, lightning calculation, or (more baldly) magic. The power is somehow in the woman, but she does not really possess it. Often realistic science fiction employs the same device.

The real focus of interest is not on women at all—but on the cosmic rivalries between strong, rugged, virile he-men” (Russ 203). While Russ cites these as common tropes of low quality science fiction, their presence can be felt in more prominent works as well. In Solaris, Hari possesses strange powers including “hysterical strength” when she tears through one of the ship’s metal doors to reach Kris. Hari does not understand these powers of hers, nor the fact that she isn’t entirely human, and whenever she is confronted with these facts she reacts emotionally and irrationally. This is an extremely stereotypical portrayal of women, preying off the old notion that women are nervous beings incapable of decision-making or rational thought. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the android Rachel serves as a pawn for the men in the story. She plays a major role in Rick’s character development, first causing him to doubt his preconceived notions of androids as inherently evil. Later when she seduces Rick, she reveals that she has done this same thing to many men before him and his world view is changed once more. Even though she delivers some of the most important scenes in the novel, Rachel has little personality of her own and is treated as nothing more than a sex object. She has been created to manipulate and seduce men, therefore her character only serves as a plot device to further the male lead’s emotional development. Russ continues by analyzing the role of women in the most “progressive” of science fiction texts. She states, “And what is most striking about these stories is what they leave out: the characters’ personal and erotic relations are not described; child-rearing arrangements (to my knowledge) are never described; and the women who appear in these stories are either young and childless or middle-aged, with their children safely grown up. That is, the real problems of a society without gender-role differentiation are not faced” (Russ 204). Trouble on Triton had a wide variety of female characters who were portrayed as men’s equals but the actual mechanics of child-rearing in the Tritonian society are never really addressed. Additionally, the erotic scenes are always shown from the men’s perspective, when Bron finally has her sex change she is unable to locate any sexual partners. Russ says as much, saying that while the text featured polyamorous and same-sex relationships that were revolutionary for the time, the representation of women still leaves something to be desired. I thought this essay was really interesting because it gave me the vocabulary to articulate why I found so many of our readings to be sexist and dehumanizing towards women.