Views of women have changed both in science fiction and because of science fiction, mostly over the past four decades. "In the opinion of many it was a woman, Mary Shelley, who created [science fiction] with Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818; rev 1831). But after such a strong start women’s contributions to the genre, while never entirely absent, were not substantial until the late 1960s" (Women SF Writers).

"Things have changed in the subsequent decades, chiefly due to the impact of feminism and to the increasing numbers of women writing [science fiction] in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, but the absence of realistic female characters remains a glaring fault of the genre" (Women as Portrayed in Science Fiction). As an example, television shows such as Wonder Woman jump to mind. However, there are some objections, as stated later in the same article, some girls, because there are not any female characters in some shows, have an easier time imagining themselves in one of the roles played by men. Sometimes female characters that do exist in certain pieces have ". . . no character above the neck. Some are sexy and helpless (often lab assistants or daughters of elderly scientists, rescued from danger by young scientists), break into hysterical laughter and need a slap, faint during critical fight scenes, and twist their fragile ankles during the flight through the jungle. Others are sexy and threatening (Amazon Queens from She to Wonder Woman) or sexy but ignorant tomboys (as in Forbidden Planet). Since the advent of feminism, however, women are less commonly weak" (Clichés).

One of the clear indications of this lack of weakness would be the trilogy of the Alien movies. The main character as portrayed by Sigourney Weaver, battles it out with aliens in three movies (Alien, Aliens, and Alien 3), (Women as Portrayed in Science Fiction). Miss Weaver is quoted as saying, "There have been a lot of comments about women's roles, but look at men's roles. They're not very interesting either. I see Kevin Costner - in A Perfect World and The War - really trying to get out there so he's not playing Robin Hood all the time" (Different interviews). "As more women were attracted by the changing image of [science fiction] (and here the influence of Star Trek should not be underestimated), as [science fiction] became more than a minority taste and began to sell in numbers previously unimaginable, and as more women moved into editorial positions, the role of female characters in [science fiction] became more important not only for aesthetic, personal or political reasons but also for commercial ones: surveys have shown that more women than men buy books, so a would-be bestseller cannot afford to alienate the female audience" (Women as Portrayed in Science Fiction).

"As Pamela Sargent wrote in a letter to Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, Fall 1977, ‘Science Fiction writers are limited only by human potential, not human actualities. [Science fiction] can serve to show women, and men, how large that potential can be’" (Feminism). By changing attitudes, behaviors follow, they simply take a long time to do so (nearly four decades). "Ideas from speculative fiction are occasionally ‘fed back’ into ways of thinking about the real world: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) have had considerable influence on attitudes to social trends and actual political rhetoric" (Sociology). To further the point, "A 1993 study from Purdue University found that children learn more about science fiction from Star Trek than anything else outside the home" (Star Trek Facts). If children learn that women’s roles don’t always have to be like what they observe in the real world, who’s to say that they won’t begin the change?

Star Trek; The Original Series rarely had women that were ‘well-respected’ (Werts 22). "Uhura was it. Knowing that, Nichols did the best she could with her limited role, even personally answering fan letters from adoring girls like me to encourage our aspirations" (Werts 22). Uhura was the communications officer on the Enterprise and usually had the simple role of saying, "Hailing frequencies open" and "Captain, I’m afraid" (Mäkeläinen). "But [the] Uhura character was treated very badly, even so much that Ms. Nichols wanted to quit the series. But as the story goes she met Martin Luther King one night and he told her how much her character meant to black people" (Mäkeläinen). "But Trek has not treated authoritative women kindly. Thirty years ago, after watching the original Trek pilot, NBC executives ordered creator Gene Roddenberry to eliminate the female first officer because she seemed too threatening" (Kim). The show ending after just three short seasons (Nimoy 128), paved the road for syndications.

"In 1987, 21 years after the original series’ debut, Star Trek: The Next Generation changed the gender-relations equation, modifying ‘where no man has gone before’ to ‘ where no one has gone before,’ and allowing women into the thick of charting the final frontier" (Werts 22-23). Small steps, great gain. Some of the slight innuendoes to change, besides the opening line, were the uniforms. As Elliott pointed out, the uniforms are now all the same, almost totally androgynous. Werts takes a bit harsher stand on the idea of dress. Comparing the old uniforms to the new unisex uniforms, "Two decades (and a women’s liberation movement) later, [The Next Generation ] finally 86’d those miniskirts. . ." (Werts 22). The major changes however were yet to come. "The real groundbreaker, of course, was Crosby’s Yar, a head strong battler who trampled over gender barriers as it they’d never existed. . . Suddenly, we had vigorous female scientists and ambassadors and planetary leaders and villains, too, but not ones always driven by sentimental motives" (Werts 22). "The situation became a little more equitable in The Next Generation, which featured women command in several stories. But most of them, like Capt. Rachel Garrett of the Enterprise-C, contracted Trek’s dreaded red-shirt syndrome: an untimely death within the first half hour" (Kim). Elliott described how the show portrayed the women as having "no differentiation in intellect", they were just as smart as any of the men. Not only were they smart, the women portrayed were also treated with the respect due.

Star Trek; Deep Space Nine began showing in 1993 (Star Trek History), "And for one of the Trek universe’s most vibrant creations, and certainly its most compelling woman up to that point: Nana Visitor’s Major Kira Nerys" (Werts 24). The character of the Major is the second in Command of a space station designated Deep Space Nine. Also playing a major role, Terry Farrell portrays the stations science officer, third in command. "These two characters truly charted the course for Voyager’s Capt. Janeway. . . Kate Mulgrew had her work cut out in developing Trek’s first woman commander" (Werts 25).

The newest series based on Star Trek, Star Trek; Voyager, has a woman, Kate Mulgrew, portraying the ship’s captain, Kathryn Janeway. Elliott, from what he has seen of the show so far, has come to the conclusion that in this particular instance, the woman in command actually has masculine qualities. He believes that this subtracts from the original belief system of Gene Roddenberry, creator of The Original Series and The Next Generation . However, Kate Mulgrew herself thinks differently about the part saying, "Captain Kathryn Janeway is the quintessential woman of the future . . . both commanding and discerning in her warmth; she's authoritative while remaining accessible" (Voyager Cast). "‘A female captain has a lot of leeway that a male captain wouldn’t have,’ says Mulgrew. . . ‘Women have an emotional accessibility that our culture not only accepts but embraces. We have a tactility, a compassion, a maternity -- and all these things can be revealed within the character of a very authoritative person’. . . ‘It took balls for these guys to hire me in this capacity,’ says Mulgrew, the first woman to lead a Trek series onto TV. ‘It’s a bold choice, and an appropriate one for 400 years in the future’" (Kim)."And now Star Trek: Voyager puts a woman in command - and casts another actress as both the crew’s engineering whiz and its wildest cannon. . . And the delicate but resourceful Ocampa, Kes [medical officer] (Jennifer Lien). Voyager has already shown that its women have possibilities to burn" (Werts 22 & 25). In effect, half the main characters are not only women but are the Captain (who also specializes in science), the Chief Engineer, and the Assistant Medical Officer, some of the most highly respected officers. "‘Kate has a lot of pressure on her,’ says Robert Beltran, who plays Chakotay, the ship’s Native American first officer. ‘There’s really no precedent for her situation. Except maybe Joan of Arc.’ He smiles. ‘And she had the anointing of God’" (Kim). Elliott also believes that Star Trek has and will always be, "politically correct", in what it is portraying, but not overtly so. He sees technology as "The Great Equalizer" between men and women. "Whatever the implementation, incarnation or success rate, viewers, fans and television experts agree that the Star Trek phenomenon evolved out of Gene Roddenberry's futuristic optimism, and his beliefs in human life and the human race's ability to triumph over greed, aggression and prejudice" (Star Trek History).

When Star Trek; The Original Series ended, it left a gaping hole for most of the fans. One of Star Trek’s (The Original Series’) writers decided to take a chance, ". . . in early 1973, Star Trek (The Original Series) reappeared on the small screen in animated form. The show, produced by Dorothy Fontana, lasted two seasons, and drew praise from critics" (Nimoy 150). During the production of the live action version of The Original Series Nimoy felt that Mrs. Fontana "gave us, by far, the best stories where we interacted with women who were fully developed characters in their own right". He continues, stating that ". . . Star Trek was a product of the sexist sixties, and that was sometimes reflected in the writing, where women characters were often treated as stereotypical love interests or altogether ignored. Dorothy’s scenes not only avoided such stereotypes, but were dramatically intriguing" (Nimoy 118). "Women writers feel able to play around with archetypes and stereotypes, male writers are more likely to avoid them for fear of being misunderstood and alienating much of their likely audience" (Women as Portrayed in Science Fiction). "Like all of Dorothy’s scripts, [The Enterprise Incident] had an edge to it, an adult level of complication, and social commentary. The character’s lives were being affected, their ethics violated, even their spirituality touched" (Nimoy 118). With scripts of this standard, Mrs. Fontana went on to write nine episodes for The Original Series and five for The Next Generation . One of The Next Generation episodes was the pilot, Encounter At Far Point, which she co-wrote with Roddenberry (Nemecek). "In 1972 Harlan Ellison stated (in his intro to ‘When it Changed’ by Joanna Russ in Again, Dangerous Visions [anth 1972]) that ‘the best writers in [science fiction] today are the women’" (Women SF Writers).

More recently a television series beginning it’s third year, The X-Files, has been taking the ratings by storm, winning the Golden Globe Award in 1995 for best dramatic series (Awards). This particular show stars none-other-than two FBI agents, one of whom being a woman. Gillian Anderson plays Dana Scully, whose qualifications range from an expert marks-(well. . . woman is the correct term) to being a Ph.D. MD. "For her performance on The X-Files, Anderson has earned the respect of television fans and critics alike who have cited her character's intelligence, wit and integrity as veritable breakthroughs in television drama. In May of 1995, Movieline dubbed her ‘a better actress than most of the women you see in movies’" (Gillian Anderson).

With writers like Dorothy Fontana, roles such as Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, Gillian Andersen’s Scully, and sit-coms such as Star Trek, views about women clearly are changing and will continue to change in the future. Futuristic shows have always been about what society will be like in the future and because of this, as humans we are almost always striving to go beyond, into the future.

Footnotes:

"In addition, the label "feminist" has never been either safe or comfortable; while it had in the 1970s -- particularly in the USA -- a certain novelty value, by the mid-1980s to be called a feminist writer was to be announced as writing for a limited audience of like-minded readers" (Feminism).

"Did you know that the first interracial kiss on TV was between Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner" (Mäkeläinen).

Works Cited

"Awards." http://www.thex-files.com/awards.htm. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation., 1996.

"Clichés." Science Fiction: The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. v. 1.0. 1995

"Different interviews." http://www.pt.hk-r.se/student/di94vno/sw_quotes.html. 13 May. 1996.

Elliott, David. Telephone interview. 13 May. 1996.

"Feminism." Science Fiction: The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. v. 1.0. 1995

"Gillian Anderson." http://www.thex-files.com/ga.htm. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation., 1996.

Kim, Albert. "Star Trip." http://pathfinder.com/@@ln1FbQioD4uQ/ew/950120/voyager/voyager1.html. Entertainment Weekly, Inc. 14 August. 1996.

Kitei, Mindy. "Prescription for the Future." TV Guide: Star Trek Spring 1995: 34-39.

Mäkeläinen, Milla. "Nichelle Nichols." http://www.helsinki.fi/~mmtmakel/naiset_tekstit/Nichelle_Nichols.html. 18 August. 1996.

Nemecek, Larry. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion. New York: Pocket Books, 1992.

Nimoy, Leonard. I Am Spock. New York: Hyperion, 1995.

"Sociology." Science Fiction: The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. v. 1.0. 1995

"Star Trek Facts." http://www.paramount.com/VoyagerFactsTxt.html. Paramount Pictures; 1996.

"Star Trek History." http://www.paramount.com/VoyagerHistoryTxt.html. Paramount Pictures; 1996.

"Voyager Cast." http://www.paramount.com/VoyagerCastTxt.html. Paramount Pictures; 1996.

Werts, Diane. "The Bold and the Beautiful." TV Guide: Star Trek Spring 1995: 22-25.

"Women as Portrayed in Science Fiction." Science Fiction: The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. v. 1.0. 1995

"Women SF Writers." Science Fiction: The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. v. 1.0. 1995.