Women in Science fiction: Effects of the feminist movements from the 1960’s to 2020’s

Abstract

Science fiction is often considered a genre written by men for men. In this thesis I will investigate if we can see a clear effect of the feminist movement in the science fiction genre. I study audiovisual works as they are easier for a beginner to analyze. The works I analyzed are: Star Trek (1966), Alien (1979), Star Wars Episode 1 – Phantom Menace (1999), Mass Effect (2007), Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013) and Returnal (2021). I use Molly Haskell’s theory about Hollywood movies not portraying women in a realistic way, Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “We should all be feminist” and The Bechdel Test. I found out that the science fiction genre is positively affected by the feminist moment. While we still see recurrences of the male gaze on the female body, we can also notice a steady rise on female characters and their role in the story. Especially video games, which are constantly criticized for their blatant sexism towards women and female bodies, had positive female protagonist. Since MeToo, there is also a clear demand for change in the entertainment industry to create a safe space for everybody, not just for a few chosen once. I also found out that the Bechdel test is an easy tool to use, but leaves a lot to be desired. Things like male love interest complicates the research, as there is always not a male love interest/no love interest at all. This also makes the method quite unreliable if one would like to dive deeper than the very surface area into the wonderful world of science fiction.