5. Misogyny in Sci-Fi

The year is ____. Artificial intelligence looks no different to humans, and travelling to space is easy.

One thing that hasn’t changed?

Misogyny.

*Trigger warning, this episode discusses media portrayal of violence against women, including sexual violence and assault*

Whether you’re looking at sci-fi books or their TV/film counterparts, the violence against women runs rampant. From the prevailing theme of women being primarily sex workers, or sexual assault being so ingrained into the narrative- it’s impossible to escape.

Those who oppose this concept claim that it’s simply a ‘realistic portrayal’, even though cars are flying and people can switch bodies at will. The portrayals of violence against women are not only excessive and gratuitous, but usually presented as erotic.

I elected to invite my sister, Bethany, onto the podcast, as a long-time sci-fi fan. Unlike me, Bethany actually knows her shit when it comes to the book versions of some of the TV shows mentioned.

 

Be patient with us as we dissect just how deep the misogyny runs in the genre.

Also discussed:

• Misogyny in films such as Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049 and Star Wars
• The book/tv differences in Altered Carbon
• How Battlestar Galactica is a prime example of the ‘it’s not violence against women if they aren’t real women’ argument
• The 100 as an example of a TV show that is primarily matriarchal
• Why The Expanse is the best sci-fi show out there

 

Please don’t judge us too harshly for not going into Star Trek, as we’re not actually in a reality where we have eternal life, which is the only way we’d have time to dissect all versions of Star Trek.

 

Lucky you, you’ve landed on Just Don’t Get Me Started, the podcast that is taking on society one rant at a time.

Laugh at or with host, Grace Hall, as she attempts to battle through Salford’s intense background noise, her own procrastination and her tendency to pick up new hobbies and drop them immediately to entertain you (a little).

Just Don’t Get Me Started is sometimes informed, always humorous, and is centred around bringing entertainment through topics that matter.

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Intro and outro music:

Hall of the Mountain King Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 2.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0