![]() ![]() One of the most standard shorthands for this, especially in TV and movies such as Battlestar Galactica and Starship Troopers, is the idea that there is only one shower facility and only one dormitory and no gender-based divisions even when soldiers are at their most vulnerable (such as when bathing and sleeping). At least nominally, no matter how harsh or violent the futuristic military is, it accepts everyone and treats everyone the same. That is, everybody can hold the same positions and carry out the same jobs (although this often still somehow results in there being way more men protagonists) and in theory gender identity is not a barrier to enlisting or serving, including non-binary or trans folks. ![]() Many futuristic militaries would like the audience to assume they’re egalitarian systems, gender-wise. ![]() What is it about futuristic military fiction that doesn’t make sense to you, Marina?, I hear you say. (This is probably a good time to mention that although I grew up reading fiction in a bunch of languages, today we’ll be talking exclusively about works written in English.) And I’d enjoy futuristic militaries more if they made internal sense, instead of sometimes feeling like poorly thought-out stereotypes of whatever military culture looks like in the author’s home country. You see, the military– any military–is also a system. Where many of these futuristic science fiction stories go wrong, however, is in their representation of the military. Which makes a lot of sense: they create built-in obstacles, hierarchies, even plot structures, that writers can take advantage of that to tell their stories. The thing about futuristic militaries is that they’re often used as a plot device, rather than an end in themselves. I grew up reading a lot of historical fiction about wars and soldiers, and in time it melded with my other favorite genre, and so my lifelong fondness for military scifi was born.īut at the same time, there are things that bother me about a lot of what the genre has to offer, especially as a grown up, trained sociologist. Do you like military science fiction? I like military science fiction. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |