Science Fiction Gender Analysis

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How and to what extent does contemporary science fiction television challenge or reaffirm the traditional positions of women within the genre? In this Paper I will aim to explore the role of which women play within the science fiction genre, starting with the original representations of women within science fiction during the sixties to the nineties and then moving onto present science fiction television shows such as The One Hundred, Doctor Who and Continuum. To do this I will draw upon the works of Brooks Landon, Keith Brooker and in addition to this I will incorporate an analysis of two science fiction television shows, the first will be Doctor Who (BBC, 1963-89), this is to show how woman have previously been portrayed in science fiction …show more content…

Therefore there are some programmes that could be considered science fiction by some and not by others. ‘Definitions of SF, like histories of SF, are manifold not because critics and historians of the form are confused, or can’t agree on key points, but because SF itself is a wide-ranging, multivalent and endlessly cross-fertilising cultural idiom.’ (Roberts, A, 2005: 2). There are a few ways of defining the science fiction genre. The first would be to summarize the essential theoretical hypotheses that are out there. Meaning that you take peoples theories and put them into practice and in addition the information or data can be collected and used to check for similarities and differences between the different media texts. There is the formalist approach of which you draw from the large array of specific examples from novels, films and television shows that are seen to be in the science fiction genre. A second method of defining this genre could be using the history from it. This is known as ‘historicist’. The history of science fiction helps when paying close attention to the cultural settings, situations and the effects from

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