Comments on: “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”: Strong Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy Television

By: In Which We Contemplate the ‘Strong Female Character’ | Lynley Stace

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:59:54 +0000

[...] Strong Women In Science Fiction and Fantasy Television, an MA thesis in PDF format from Feminist Frequency Share this:Like this:LikeBe the first to like [...]

By: Fun, fresh feminism « hungrycaterpilla

Fun, fresh feminism « hungrycaterpilla — Mon, 16 May 2011 19:09:08 +0000

[...] lens, because of both her education and her experience. Her master’s thesis is titled, “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”: Strong Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy Television”. She has …She regularly hosts seminars and talks across the United States of America [...]

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 10 May 2011 06:17:57 +0000

Very much enjoyed reading your thesis and enjoy your blog.I dont neccesarily agree with everything you say but thats just because I do enjoy the hot chicks kicking ass.But your views on things do make me think and I would like to think make me grow as a person, keep up the good work….

By: Alice

Alice — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:23:51 +0000

I guess this comment is a bit late, but I just wanted to tell you that I really, really enjoyed reading that. I am happy to see women being portrayed in traditional male roles , but it is bothering when those portrayals become a way to enforce the assumption that only traditional male attributes are interesting and worthy of screen time.

I found this site today and I have read all of your posts. I’m really, really loving it.

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 11:21:58 +0000

Thank you so much for this, and your whole website. You have really inspired me. As a teenage feminist its often hard to remember what it is modern feminism is all about and I think your focus on the media is so spot on – women need to be represented as whole people not just tropes. Its so hard as a young woman to find characters to relate to on TV so thank you for acknowledging this.

Anyway, you inspired me to write this article on feminism.
http://www.atthegrapevine.com/wordpress/politics/the-f-word

Thank you

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:58:37 +0000

Overall, I must admit that I didn’t really like any of the female characters in Firefly; Zoe might has well have been a man, since she was mostly brawn (as you say,”Zoe is hardly seen outside of the rigidity of the warrior”), River only became really interesting in Serenity, Kaylee is infantalized (as you point out above) and Inara was mainly eye candy without much of a presence/purpose except to be Mal’s (non-starter) love interest. I thought Christina Hendricks’ minor character was the most interesting in the series.

Although – as a man – I must admit it’s a bit difficult for me to nail down what I look for in a female character; I just look for strong characters, regardless of gender. I certainly appreciate your fascinating insights into these female sci-fi characters (I think you’re spot on about Captain Janeway).

By: Anita

Anita — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:42:25 +0000

Yes, I do watch Fringe, and *so far* I really like Olivia’s character a lot.

By: Lucy

Lucy — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 05:33:12 +0000

Have you watched Fringe? I feel like Olivia’s role might serve as a complicated/interesting example of this (and possibly an exception to the rule, in some ways).

By: Meg

Meg — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 23:04:12 +0000

I must admit, I have not read your entire paper YET, but since you mentioned Mulan in your title, I was reminded of a beautiful dissection of Mulan by a transgender person on an LGBT blog. http://www.bluedevilsunited.com/2010/12/in-which-i-take-mulan-little-too.html

When talking about gender roles, yes, it does seem to perpetuate them, but at the same time questioning boundaries for where women can fit in these gender roles. Is this good or bad? Finally, the movie gets a little more complicated at the end when the men dress as women to climb the pillars. Just something to think about if you get a chance. I think the mere fact that this woman, Mulan, succeeds and is heroic in fulfilling a usual-male role (even though the film harps on the fact it is a man’s role) is a step in the right direction. It could even be argued that the role that Mulan plays is repeatedly portrayed as being a man’s role BECAUSE it makes an even better case for women’s success in fulfilling these roles. Nonetheless, a complicated topic.

By: Anita

Anita — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 18:28:25 +0000

I’m so glad you enjoyed my thesis and that it’s helpful for you. I would be interested in what you have to say about the women of Firefly because I don’t think they are actually interesting, strong, or full female characters (I only talk about Zoe in the paper but I feel like Kaylee is infantalized even though she’s an amazing engineer *so frustrating*). The paper is only published on this website so you can just cite it from here.