The Reaction to Women in Science Fiction - a short extract
An essay extract talking about the importance of a journal such as Luna Station Quarterly
In a genre dominated by male authors, LSQ provides a platform for women to share their stories and ideas in both the journal and the blog without a man attempting to discredit their thoughts or stories because they might not be his definition of ‘speculative fiction’. Similarly, by having an authorship made up entirely of female-identifying people it promotes an open discussion about the representation of women in speculative fiction as it is only recently that they have gained more prominence; going from ‘damsels in distress’ and a passive participant of the story around them to becoming the main character and actively influencing the plot and action. In the past, when women have been front and centre of science fiction, men have taken it upon themselves to comment needlessly. One such instance being when Jodie Whittaker was announced as the next Doctor on BBC show Doctor Who. When the casting decision was revealed many men were unnecessarily angry about the decision to cast a woman in a role that had been played by men up until that point, despite the fact that the Doctor is an alien that can regenerate every cell in their body, therefore making it possible that they would at some point probably regenerate into a woman, even having previously seen more than one Gallifreyan regenerate from a man to a woman, or vice versa. Another instance being Captain Marvel’s introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Brie Larson playing the eponymous hero in the 2019 film Captain Marvel.Larson received an enormous amount of backlash after the announcement of her casting, mostly because the majority of male Marvel fans believed that Captain Marvel should’ve been a man as in some of the comics, because of course the character widely considered to be the most powerful Avenger couldn’t possibly be a woman, could it? Being the first female-lead movie in the MCU (There should’ve been a Black Widow movie years ago) Captain Marvel caused waves, with Larson coming under fire from men for what many news outlets called her ‘identity politics’ (read: wanting more diversity and ensuring that all the press days were accessible to people of all abilities. In other words, being a decent human being). LSQ’s importance in the world of speculative fiction cannot be underestimated; it provides a safe space for women to express their opinions without the fear of being bullied and targeted by men for having a different viewpoint. It also gives women the opportunity to just be excited about seeing themselves represented in a modern and positive way, without having to worry about defending themselves to men for being happy about something that is so trivial but ground-breaking at the same time.
