I’ve often noted that there seems to be a stigma incommensurably attached to the ‘sci-fi’ genre more than any other genre, for no apparent reason really, it seems to be very male-dominated. There are few female sci-fi writers compared with male writers, and I wonder, given the cognition vs. feeling that is so often prevalent in faith, whether the sci-fi genre has suffered from being under-represented by female minds. Conveniently demarcated under the rubric of what constitutes ‘analytical drive’ and ‘ontological investigation’ (mostly male) and the ‘sensitive’ and ‘feelings’ (mostly female) – although, of course with some variation in both – we have the female interpretation lacking in so many classic sci-fi novels.
I’m no great reader of science fiction, but I have read most of the so-called ‘greats’ and have sometimes wondered how the genre would have been different with more female contributors (although there are probably more these days). Just like a marriage, overly analytical analyses can ultimately subvert the ‘emotional’ and ‘sensitive’ appreciations that female minds undoubtedly bring in. It’s a fact of life (and our evolution) that men are far more interested in theories of everything and grand ontological narratives than women, so once you subtract from the genre those men that are not very exploratory in nature, you are given the impression of being left with those whose drive for grand explanations marks them out as more ‘focused’ and ‘introspective’ than readers of most other genres, and thus a coterie occurs. This may be a false and misjudged stigma, but I get the feeling sci-fi aficionados are being paid a backhanded compliment, albeit it a rather begrudging one.
Given that Christianity is demarked as a relationship between man and God and that Christ calls Himself the bridegroom of the church, it is easy to see why (thankfully) Christianity doesn’t suffer form the same dearth of women that sci-fi does. In actual fact, the opposite is true – I’m told that in Christianity the male/female ratio in this country is something like 4 to 1 in favour of females. Let’s hope the women continue to find good uses for us, otherwise we may find ourselves trying to get men back into Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity in the same way that women tried to find a voice in science fiction.
I’m no great reader of science fiction, but I have read most of the so-called ‘greats’ and have sometimes wondered how the genre would have been different with more female contributors (although there are probably more these days). Just like a marriage, overly analytical analyses can ultimately subvert the ‘emotional’ and ‘sensitive’ appreciations that female minds undoubtedly bring in. It’s a fact of life (and our evolution) that men are far more interested in theories of everything and grand ontological narratives than women, so once you subtract from the genre those men that are not very exploratory in nature, you are given the impression of being left with those whose drive for grand explanations marks them out as more ‘focused’ and ‘introspective’ than readers of most other genres, and thus a coterie occurs. This may be a false and misjudged stigma, but I get the feeling sci-fi aficionados are being paid a backhanded compliment, albeit it a rather begrudging one.
Given that Christianity is demarked as a relationship between man and God and that Christ calls Himself the bridegroom of the church, it is easy to see why (thankfully) Christianity doesn’t suffer form the same dearth of women that sci-fi does. In actual fact, the opposite is true – I’m told that in Christianity the male/female ratio in this country is something like 4 to 1 in favour of females. Let’s hope the women continue to find good uses for us, otherwise we may find ourselves trying to get men back into Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity in the same way that women tried to find a voice in science fiction.
