Living as a woman in a science fiction future.

[la_marquise_de_]

When I was 8, I wanted more than anything to be a member of the crew of the starship Enterprise. I wanted so much to share in their adventures, going to new worlds, meeting aliens, having adventures. And that future I watched on tv every week was filled with women. I was 8: I didn't really think about the coding of their costumes or the roles they

Comments

[mevennen]

My parents were always a little sceptical of the ST universe, though they did like Uhura, because the women were so often there to fall in love with Kirk. The women in Who were there to scream, particularly Sarah Jane Smith who screamed for England: as a child I found her tedious. I preferred Blake's 7 - Jenna was a bit of a token blonde, but I liked Dayna, the enigmatic Cally and Servalan, even if she was rather a cartoon villainess: Jacqueline Pearce brought something to the role.

I think it is getting narrower rather than wider; we have discussed this before. Does fantasy serve women better? Pratchett's witches are role models for a generation of pagan women. But urban fantasy relies too much on the feisty female, as I've said before, too. Robin McKinley? Yes. Diana Wynne Jones? Definitely.

[la_marquise_de_]

I liked Blake's 7 better, too, but in a weird way it stuck with me less. I'm not sure quite whey except that I know people for whom it's huge and I don't feel I have as much right to it. Which is weird, but me.
I'm no sure about fantasy: it used to be wider and there are still more books in which are front and centre == but it carries all the social baggage which is wearing in itself. And there are too many damsels.

[mevennen]

The quasi-Medieval baggage is very tiresome.

Fantasy TV: I did like the women in Buffy, which covered quite a range. I suspect Willow made a lot of difference to a lot of girls growing up.

[watervole]

I am so fed up of feisty females. It's as though a women no longer has value unless she can fight like a ninja.

[anonymous]

Have you read Elizabeth Moon's 'Remnant Population'?

It features that rare animal, an OLD woman, who has a mind of her own, is bloody-minded and is allowed to be a granny than a love interest and still be the main character.

Old women are so few and far between, and the older I get, the more I am aware of it.

Also Lady Cecilia in another of Moon's books. Older woman, has her own independence and her own opinions, happy to learn new tricks in old age. No need for a love interest.

[watervole]

Have you read Elizabeth Moon's 'Remnant Population'?

It features that rare animal, an OLD woman, who has a mind of her own, is bloody-minded and is allowed to be a granny than a love interest and still be the main character.

Old women are so few and far between, and the older I get, the more I am aware of it.

Also Lady Cecilia in another of Moon's books. Older woman, has her own independence and her own opinions, happy to learn new tricks in old age. No need for a love interest.

[mevennen]

At risk of own trumpet, one of the main characters in Ghost Sister (and Precious Dragon) is an elderly lady. I like writing older women.

Particularly since I myself, though pretty aggressive, can not in fact fight like a ninja...

[naath]

I like to pretend to be someone who can fight like a ninja, but also other sorts of people. It's boring to be a ninja *all the time*.

[watervole]

I'll keep an eye out for those if I make it to Worldcon.

[princejvstin]

I want a diversity of things I can read. That means reading characters who aren't white heterosexual males like turtles, all the way down.

great blogpost

[scifiwritir]

Don't let the depression stay too long. The world can overwhelm yu if you lose hope. <3