Farscape/Firefly paper outline, for the bored/academically inclined
Okay, I lied. I got bored with listening to the prof drone on about different types of essays (seriously, this is third year... 5yr for me... I get it. ^^; And I was hoping for a chance to have her go over my outline, but at this rate the 'workshop' part of the class will be considerably shorter than I expected.), so I copied/pasted my outline from Word and fucked with the formatting until it looks okay. I suspect there was a considerably easier way to do what I just did, but... oh wells.
Some oblique spoilers for Farscape in the 'topics' section. The question/thesis section is safe, though.
Question/Thesis:
My paper will examine how gender identity and gender stereotypes are negotiated by the media, specifically in reference to modern science fiction television. I plan to analyze two shows, Farscape (1999-2003)and Firefly (2002), and discover to what extent these shows, and the science fiction genre in general, can allow for subversive readings of gender. Both shows have been critically hailed for their representations of strong, complex women - and men. Farscape in particular plays with gender stereotypes and our conceptions of masculinity/femininity, allowing for the creation of male and female characters who blend traditionally ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ traits and therefore become more complete and whole human beings (or aliens, as the case may be). The show is in part able to do this due to the subversive potential of the science fiction genre itself. By placing a lone human character into a wholly alien universe, the show is able to examine and problematize our definitions of gender and sexuality. Similarly, Firefly combines traditionally feminine and masculine qualities in its main characters to create a new, more inclusive gendered world. Unlike Farscape, the world of Firefly is wholly human and, despite its futuristic setting, bears many resemblances to life as we know it (now and in the past, given the distinctly 19th century/Western feeling of the show). This setting allows Firefly to create men and women who are recognizable to us in the 21st century, and therefore the show gives us a more direct link between the strong, futuristic women we see on the screen and the women of today.
Both Farscape and Firefly, therefore, are able to reexamine gender stereotypes and provide a more varied and realistic representation of gender. In today’s media-saturated world, where stereotypical and even damaging images of both men and women still frequently appear, shows such as these provide positive and empowering images and, with them, the hope of change.
Topics:
1. Brief overview of gender in the media, and the importance of how gender is portrayed. What is the significance of gender stereotypes in the media?
2. Brief overview of the science fiction genre, the subversive potential the genre allows, and the history of gender images in SF television.
3. Brief outline of Farscape
4. Masculinity and femininity in Farscape
- Masc. and fem. are not dichotomized in FS the way they still frequently are in the world and in the media - both masc. and fem. are valued in both m. and f. characters, and over the course of the series they become more complete beings by accepting multiple gender characteristics
- male characters - John Crichton (also briefly, D’Argo) - negotiated masculinity - John’s masculinity is fragmented, and he is frequently portrayed as vulnerable and passive - different from classic SF male heroes - becomes more ‘masculine’ as the show goes on, but this is not always seen as a good thing - makes him harder and more dangerous
- female characters - namely Aeryn, also briefly Chiana and Zhaan
- Aeryn Sun - very masculine at start -becomes more ‘feminine’ over course of series, but never loses her strength/background as a soldier - breaking away from the patriarchy of the Peacekeepers to value ‘feminine’ characteristics such as compassion and love (which are ultimately coded as characteristics that all beings should possess to be complete - not just women)
- Aeryn’s search for identity - “you can be more” (John in 1.01)
- Aeryn in The Peacekeeper Wars - mother and solider
-importance of the ‘mother’ - role of mother/nurturer is valued
- reclaiming the power of the Mother as a good thing, while still not the only important aspect of the female character(s) - Aeryn, Zhaan, Moya
- this role is also valued in male characters - John as nurturer and father, Pilot as father/co-parent with Moya to those aboard Moya, D’Argo as a father
- family as all-important, to both m. and f. characters
5. Earth ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’ as “alien” in Farscape - negotiating human conceptions of gender in an alien
universe
- John’s attempt to associate Aeryn with his conception of traditional gender roles on Earth - episode 3.22 - he tries to imagine her as his wife on Earth but in his mind he sees it ending in disaster because she is incompatible with his stereotypical ideas about what constitutes ‘male’ and ‘female’, ‘husband’ and ‘wife’
- 3.22/4.13/4.17 - we see the disconnect between our conception of gender and the aliens’ conception of gender - and ours’ becomes the ‘other’ while the aliens’ is normalized
6. Brief outline of Firefly
- Masculinity and femininity both valued in all forms
- Kaylee as modern amalgamation of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ qualities - she is tomboyish with her love of and affinity for machines, but she is also feminine - this done not seem like a contradiction,
nor an attempt to make her tomboy tendencies ‘safe’ by feminizing her - rather, she is happily masculine and feminine and therefore more realistic and whole
- Zoe - strong female character, warrior - but also oving wife - again, these don’t seem like contradictions - she can be both
- Femininity is valued - even so-called ‘traditional’ femininity - importance of valuing all types of women and femininities
7. The characters are recognizable to us- Kaylee
- Even River - in spite of the SF overtones to what happened to her, and what she has become, the audience recognizes her as a real girl, a real person - ie. ‘Safe’ (also, ‘War Stories’ I think? - playing with Kaylee, afraid of losing her grip on reality)
8. Brief section on sexuality in both shows?
- Chiana in Farscape
- Inara and Kaylee in Firefly
9. Conclusion
*sigh* Listening to her advice, though, I confess to getting a tad nervous. I never know how much of my argument I formulated, and how much I synthesized from different places. I've been thinking about this paper a ton, since like September, and developed several ideas (namely re: Farscape), but then a lot of those ideas have been backed up by stuff I read in books. So much so that pretty much everything I've thought up, I've later found in a book or paper. -__- So I'm kinda stuck, not knowing how much I need to cite, and trying to have some of my own argument in there. Hopefully it'll turn out okay... I'll just have to try to add some more of my own stuff in there.
I think she's wrapping up the "how to write a paper" segment of the class. Yays. Hope I can get a chance to talk to her; I really don't want to come all the way out here on Thursday for the optional class that day (I'll be in N Van that day, but even so...)
Anyway, any thoughts or ideas are much appreciated. :)
Some oblique spoilers for Farscape in the 'topics' section. The question/thesis section is safe, though.
Question/Thesis:
My paper will examine how gender identity and gender stereotypes are negotiated by the media, specifically in reference to modern science fiction television. I plan to analyze two shows, Farscape (1999-2003)and Firefly (2002), and discover to what extent these shows, and the science fiction genre in general, can allow for subversive readings of gender. Both shows have been critically hailed for their representations of strong, complex women - and men. Farscape in particular plays with gender stereotypes and our conceptions of masculinity/femininity, allowing for the creation of male and female characters who blend traditionally ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ traits and therefore become more complete and whole human beings (or aliens, as the case may be). The show is in part able to do this due to the subversive potential of the science fiction genre itself. By placing a lone human character into a wholly alien universe, the show is able to examine and problematize our definitions of gender and sexuality. Similarly, Firefly combines traditionally feminine and masculine qualities in its main characters to create a new, more inclusive gendered world. Unlike Farscape, the world of Firefly is wholly human and, despite its futuristic setting, bears many resemblances to life as we know it (now and in the past, given the distinctly 19th century/Western feeling of the show). This setting allows Firefly to create men and women who are recognizable to us in the 21st century, and therefore the show gives us a more direct link between the strong, futuristic women we see on the screen and the women of today.
Both Farscape and Firefly, therefore, are able to reexamine gender stereotypes and provide a more varied and realistic representation of gender. In today’s media-saturated world, where stereotypical and even damaging images of both men and women still frequently appear, shows such as these provide positive and empowering images and, with them, the hope of change.
Topics:
1. Brief overview of gender in the media, and the importance of how gender is portrayed. What is the significance of gender stereotypes in the media?
2. Brief overview of the science fiction genre, the subversive potential the genre allows, and the history of gender images in SF television.
3. Brief outline of Farscape
4. Masculinity and femininity in Farscape
- Masc. and fem. are not dichotomized in FS the way they still frequently are in the world and in the media - both masc. and fem. are valued in both m. and f. characters, and over the course of the series they become more complete beings by accepting multiple gender characteristics
- male characters - John Crichton (also briefly, D’Argo) - negotiated masculinity - John’s masculinity is fragmented, and he is frequently portrayed as vulnerable and passive - different from classic SF male heroes - becomes more ‘masculine’ as the show goes on, but this is not always seen as a good thing - makes him harder and more dangerous
- female characters - namely Aeryn, also briefly Chiana and Zhaan
- Aeryn Sun - very masculine at start -becomes more ‘feminine’ over course of series, but never loses her strength/background as a soldier - breaking away from the patriarchy of the Peacekeepers to value ‘feminine’ characteristics such as compassion and love (which are ultimately coded as characteristics that all beings should possess to be complete - not just women)
- Aeryn’s search for identity - “you can be more” (John in 1.01)
- Aeryn in The Peacekeeper Wars - mother and solider
-importance of the ‘mother’ - role of mother/nurturer is valued
- reclaiming the power of the Mother as a good thing, while still not the only important aspect of the female character(s) - Aeryn, Zhaan, Moya
- this role is also valued in male characters - John as nurturer and father, Pilot as father/co-parent with Moya to those aboard Moya, D’Argo as a father
- family as all-important, to both m. and f. characters
5. Earth ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’ as “alien” in Farscape - negotiating human conceptions of gender in an alien
universe
- John’s attempt to associate Aeryn with his conception of traditional gender roles on Earth - episode 3.22 - he tries to imagine her as his wife on Earth but in his mind he sees it ending in disaster because she is incompatible with his stereotypical ideas about what constitutes ‘male’ and ‘female’, ‘husband’ and ‘wife’
- 3.22/4.13/4.17 - we see the disconnect between our conception of gender and the aliens’ conception of gender - and ours’ becomes the ‘other’ while the aliens’ is normalized
6. Brief outline of Firefly
- Masculinity and femininity both valued in all forms
- Kaylee as modern amalgamation of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ qualities - she is tomboyish with her love of and affinity for machines, but she is also feminine - this done not seem like a contradiction,
nor an attempt to make her tomboy tendencies ‘safe’ by feminizing her - rather, she is happily masculine and feminine and therefore more realistic and whole
- Zoe - strong female character, warrior - but also oving wife - again, these don’t seem like contradictions - she can be both
- Femininity is valued - even so-called ‘traditional’ femininity - importance of valuing all types of women and femininities
7. The characters are recognizable to us- Kaylee
- Even River - in spite of the SF overtones to what happened to her, and what she has become, the audience recognizes her as a real girl, a real person - ie. ‘Safe’ (also, ‘War Stories’ I think? - playing with Kaylee, afraid of losing her grip on reality)
8. Brief section on sexuality in both shows?
- Chiana in Farscape
- Inara and Kaylee in Firefly
9. Conclusion
*sigh* Listening to her advice, though, I confess to getting a tad nervous. I never know how much of my argument I formulated, and how much I synthesized from different places. I've been thinking about this paper a ton, since like September, and developed several ideas (namely re: Farscape), but then a lot of those ideas have been backed up by stuff I read in books. So much so that pretty much everything I've thought up, I've later found in a book or paper. -__- So I'm kinda stuck, not knowing how much I need to cite, and trying to have some of my own argument in there. Hopefully it'll turn out okay... I'll just have to try to add some more of my own stuff in there.
I think she's wrapping up the "how to write a paper" segment of the class. Yays. Hope I can get a chance to talk to her; I really don't want to come all the way out here on Thursday for the optional class that day (I'll be in N Van that day, but even so...)
Anyway, any thoughts or ideas are much appreciated. :)