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Stargate Behind the Lens: (Almost) No Girls Allowed

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    Stargate Behind the Lens: (Almost) No Girls Allowed

    Stargate Behind the Lens: (Almost) No Girls Allowed

    http://kathyhassinger.com/2009/08/st...girls-allowed/

    EXCERPT: I was reading this post in the archives of Feminist SF–The Blog! about the lack of women writing and directing science fiction shows on TV. Two of the shows author Ide Cyan cites as lacking in females behind the cameras are Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis. In her post, Ide lists two Atlantis episodes written by women and one SG1 episode directed by a woman. That sounded a little short to me, so I dug deeper to see what the real tally of women writing or directing Stargate episodes is.

    REST AT LINK ABOVE

    #2
    That's interesting. But does it really matter? Is there some sort of quota that TPTB need to fill before they are politically correct and balanced? The writers of this show just happened to be male, there's nothing wrong with that. Do you think that the stories would have been better if more women had been involved? People never cease to amaze me. One decade we're fighting for gender equality and the next we have feminists. Maybe I'm just biased because I'm a guy but I think that feminists are worse than sexist men. (I've also talked to several women who agree with me on that)
    I have heard of a place where humans do battle in a ring of jello.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Pianomancuber View Post
      Maybe I'm just biased because I'm a guy but I think that feminists are worse than sexist men. (I've also talked to several women who agree with me on that)
      That's because the original definition of 'feminist' was intrinsically linked with equality between the sexes, not female chauvinism. It's kind of sad to see how the semantics have shifted. I do consider myself a feminist, but in the old-skool definition...

      I admit though, while I don't know that randomly throwing in more female writers or directors would've helped, SG as a franchise does feel kinda biased toward men because I always suspect that they're the ones they're marking to. The ironic bit is there are tons of female fans, anyway.
      <sig removed for violating respecting the cast and crew rules>

      Comment


        #4
        What's the point in this article? People are hired based off their credentials and their skills. On some part it is also because of who you know. Having breasts or testicles shouldn't dictate who gets hired.

        Stop trying to get attention for an issue that isn't really an issue. If women want to write more SciFi then all the power to them. Besides, look up the statistic for the balance between male and female producers/directors/writers in general. I don't care about a show if it's written by a man or a woman. I want quality, not sexism.

        Women comprised only 17% of all executive producers, producers, directors, writers, cinematographers, and editors. http://www.moviesbywomen.com/statistics.php

        Is this considered discrimination? No.
        Is there discrimation in the industry? Hell yes.
        Is there discrimination in EVERY industry? You'd be hardpressed to find one that isn't.
        How long has it been since women were allowed to go beyond what they were originally allowed to (kitchen/raising families) and fight for what they want? 50 years? 60? Do you think that's enough time for the balance in all industries to be 50/50 male and female?

        There are so many reasons why this happens and yet one that is so obvious is often abused by women....

        As it has been often said to me, in the media, and well... everywhere... men can't raise kids without a woman. Men do not have the patience nor the breasts to raise kids. Apparently it doesn't matter how much you love your kids, how much time you spend with them or how many parenting books you've read. That just doesn't cut it. You have to be a woman in order for your kids to be raised properly.
        Now that point of view can be taken two ways. One: the male must be working because it is harmful for him to be at home raising the kids.
        Two: it is more beneficial for the mother to be with the child then the father. From personal experiences, I'd like to say this is true. I was terrified if my mother went out with her friends and I was stuck with my Dad. He wasn't abusive, he just didn't know how to take care of me alone.


        My reason for bringing this statistic is because... well... women are BIOLOGICALLY ENGINEERED to carry the baby right? Does that mean that the first few years outside of the womb should be handled by the mother or the father? I'd say the mother. My fiance would also agree. Kids complicate many things: including careers. More often then not women will take a break from their work and take a couple years off and then continue while balancing babysitters and friends to take care of the kids. The aforementioned scenario is what I believe is idealistic for any family.

        What if you take into account income? Then the father takes paternity leave and the wife brings in the cash.
        I'm not saying it's fair for women to carry the kids for 9 months then have to stick with them for 18 years before venturing to their own thing. If men could, we would carry the kids for you. I know I would. But we can't, so deal with it. If you're with a sexist pig that wants you to stay at home because you're a woman and not because it's better for the kids whose fault is it for sticking with him?

        Uncomprehensive rant over.
        Last edited by Valar; 25 August 2009, 11:07 AM. Reason: adding statistic / relevant comments
        http://www.geekologie.com/2008/12/19/bk-flame.jpg

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Valar View Post
          What's the point in this article? People are hired based off their credentials and their skills. On some part it is also because of who you know. Having breasts or testicles shouldn't dictate who gets hired.

          Stop trying to get attention for an issue that isn't really an issue. If women want to write more SciFi then all the power to them. Besides, look up the statistic for the balance between male and female producers/directors/writers in general. I don't care about a show if it's written by a man or a woman. I want quality, not sexism.

          IE: "OMG THAT SHOW IS AWESOME!"
          "Yeah but because it was written by a man I won't watch it."
          if you have a problem with the article, you might want to address it to the author. I just posted the link.

          But in Hollywood, it is predominantly a men's club when it comes to writing. Actually the most successful show on TV is produced/written by women: CSI!

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Valar View Post
            As it has been often said to me, in the media, and well... everywhere... men can't raise kids without a woman. Men do not have the patience nor the breasts to raise kids. Apparently it doesn't matter how much you love your kids, how much time you spend with them or how many parenting books you've read. That just doesn't cut it. You have to be a woman in order for your kids to be raised properly.
            Gee, thanks. Given that my dad raised me as a single parent, it's good to know that a random stranger has declared my dad an unfit parent because he doesn't have breasts. What a freaking joke.

            I was scared to be around my mother for the same reasons you were scared to be around your dad. She loved me, too - she was just too screwed up most of the time to know what she was doing. Way to generalize.

            Then again, I get the distinct impression you're going to discount my opinion because I was raised by a man and obviously didn't have your prescriptive "proper" upbringing. I must be too screwed up.

            It'd be nice if you tried looking at more perspectives than just your own when forming opinions like this...
            <sig removed for violating respecting the cast and crew rules>

            Comment


              #7
              That is true that their is not alot of women working on Stargate, but how many women are in the writing, producing shows in the U.S and Canada, how much do they make per show and how many women watch Stargate. My own question is what is the percentage of minoritys writing for the show. As a African American i think that it be interesting to see if it just women who are low or is it minority group including women who arent being represented.

              Comment


                #8
                Maybe girls dont like this kinda work so they dont do it or dont make the right connections to get the jobs? Ive worked in a female dominated feild for years so i know what looks like sextism isnt always sextism.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Huge Gold Space Cadillac View Post
                  Gee, thanks. Given that my dad raised me as a single parent, it's good to know that a random stranger has declared my dad an unfit parent because he doesn't have breasts. What a freaking joke.

                  I was scared to be around my mother for the same reasons you were scared to be around your dad. She loved me, too - she was just too screwed up most of the time to know what she was doing. Way to generalize.

                  Then again, I get the distinct impression you're going to discount my opinion because I was raised by a man and obviously didn't have your prescriptive "proper" upbringing. I must be too screwed up.

                  It'd be nice if you tried looking at more perspectives than just your own when forming opinions like this...
                  I'm pretty sure Valar just agreed with you. Read the rest of his post. He was saying how wrong the media is for portraying that exact scenerio all the time.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by PG15 View Post
                    I'm pretty sure Valar just agreed with you. Read the rest of his post. He was saying how wrong the media is for portraying that exact scenerio all the time.
                    May be my bad then for jumping the gun. It was a bit confusingly worded. Reading comprehension FTW.
                    <sig removed for violating respecting the cast and crew rules>

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Huge Gold Space Cadillac View Post
                      Then again, I get the distinct impression you're going to discount my opinion because I was raised by a man and obviously didn't have your prescriptive "proper" upbringing. I must be too screwed up.
                      That's not what he meant ( at least I really think it wasn't). Men and women are better at different things. That's the way we are, there's nothing sexist or wrong about saying that. He was just trying to say that generally speaking children prefer the comfort of their mother to that of their father. Of course that's not always true. To make up a percent, I'd say it's 75%-85% true. I'm sure your father did a wonderful job raising you.

                      After all, you do watch Stargate.
                      I have heard of a place where humans do battle in a ring of jello.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        wow, way to not read the rest of the thread me....... sry huge gold space cadillac
                        I have heard of a place where humans do battle in a ring of jello.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Women are different from men. Always will be. They are not less valuable or inferior, just different. In exchange for having less physical strength, they have more beauty. It's a trade off.

                          It should not come as any surprise that the difference extends to the inside as well. We should all have enough humility to accept that the other gender, on average, does some things better than us and enough sense to recognize that those things are equally important to our long-term health and survival.

                          As a society we should not feel the need to forcibly insert women into every type of job or insist that men like the same things as women or vice versa. We should accept our differences and, in fact, appreciate them.

                          One of the things that I feel is going wrong with Sci-Fi is that you now have too many people who never liked Sci-Fi, who never watched Sci-Fi and still don't watch it involved in the production of it. That's like making Ted Nugent a board member of PETA. You know it's just a matter of time before he has the mission statement rewritten and the name changed to (P)eople for the (E)thical (T)ermination of (A)nimals.

                          Battle Star Galactica was a move toward weaving soap opera drama into traditional Sci-Fi. Now, I fear, that the networks are going take this idea to even further extremes. Indeed, Defying Gravity is a good example of how to go too far with it.

                          I don't want a daytime soap set on a space ship. If you think that kind of show is going to reach a broader audience, you're wrong. It may reach a different audience, but it's going to alienate the longtime fans of the genre.

                          If you want to have more character development, go ahead, but you better keep plenty of action, explosions, technology and science in the show as well. BSG struck a good balance.

                          Whenever humans change something, the change takes place like a pendulum swing and almost always goes too far the other way before swinging back to center.
                          sigpic My Twit-name (@fwupow) is the same!

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                            #14
                            Did the author consider that perhaps most professional female writers may not enjoy writing sci-fi? People tend to play to their strengths. If female writers don't feel confident writing sci-fi then they won't. Same goes for directing.

                            Some females complain the show(s) are written and directed mostly by men, but has that hurt the characters any? Is it adversely affecting the quality of the show(s)? Does knowing your favorite episode was written by someone of a specific gender make it more enjoyable? Is that really a make it or break it point for you to watch the show?

                            Until more female writers feel confident writing sci-fi and realize that the genre has loads of female fans that's just how its going to be.

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