Sci-Fi Sex Fetishes and Rape

A couple of years ago, there was a great deal of controversy because of claims made by Toronto police that Star Trek was linked to pedophilia and sex fetishes, and that it served as an unhealthy outlet for male rape fantasies. According to Dr. Peter Mezan, a psychoanalyst in New York City, "There is an impulse that is common to perversion and to utopian thinking. The wish is to create a world in which differences make no difference. The great utopian thinkers have been immensely inspiring, but there is a reason that utopian communities have never worked out. In the name of equality of every sort and in the attempt to eliminate the tensions that normally divide us, they propose to create a marvelously unnatural world without the usual boundaries. But then it gets all fucked up."

I have included links to these images of women in sci-fi tv, to point out the likelihood of their being some truth to the Toronto police's assertions. Science fiction television and films have been at the forefront of objectifying women, treating them as mere sex objects, rather than as fully developed human beings with minds all of their own. Science fiction television officially condemns rape (see the episode "Violations" of TNG), but itself dresses women in outfits that urge men to merely view thse women as sexual playthings. This does not mean, of course, that women can't or shouldn't wear revealing clothing. I have no problem with that. What I do have a problem with is women having to do so as a prerequisite of their job, for no artistic point. Again, situations vary. The sexuality in "The Devils" for instance, is about as strong as any seen in Western film, but the movie serves as a quite clear condemnation of the enforced chastity of nuns during 17th century France. I would argue that it is therefore justified. Princess Lea sporting a slave girl outfit, by contrast, clearly was meant only to entice male viewers with dreams of chaining a woman by the neck. It is S & M for the kiddie set, and I'm not sure I'm really comfortable with that.

It is entirely possible to make women sexually appealing and yet not exploit them at the same time. One of the finest examples of this process occurred in the original V, in which Faye Grant played Julie Parrish, a sexy resistance leader who nevertheless was not their for eye candy, but served as an example of an intelligent, charming, and important part of the cast. Delenn in Babylon 5, or Starbuck in the reboot of the new BSG also don't always take their clothes off, and yet still remain fundamentally attractive women.

Is science fiction linked to rape? It's hard to say. But clearly, trating women as pinup posters for alien sex fantasies may not be the ideal way of promoting a healthy view of the female body. If science fiction is to sincerely protest rape, it must also protest the pornographization of the female body that creates the sexist attitudes that cause rape. Otherwise, science fiction is merely reinforcing societal prejudices, not liberating us from them.