by Catia Cunha
Recently I’ve noticed that the decade old battle fought by women writers to claim their intrinsic influence on the Science Fiction genre has become a hot topic again. Against accusations that “women have destroyed Science Fiction,” comes retaliation like Lightspeed Magazine’s publication of their June issue this summer. K. Tempest Bradford writes a great article about it here. The point is: it’s not news that women writers have needed to defend their involvement not only in the genre but in its creation as well. What I find interesting is that the same struggle occurs frequently for women protagonists of Science Fiction. Female characters always need to prove themselves and defend their beliefs and preferences. And with Science Fiction, it’s more of the same.
But what sets this genre apart from many others for me is what I see as its perpetuation of a culture of persistence. I’m not just talking about the Dystopian subgenre, either. Science Fiction consistently provides readers with a host of women who all desperately want something. Furthermore, women who will relentlessly pursue what they want—who will even break laws if it comes to that. Katniss Everdeen of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy comes to mind, followed by Tris Prior from Veronica Roth’s Divergent trilogy, and all the other women who’ve been in the spotlight. In particular though, I’m thinking of the women in the world of Carl Sagan’s Contact, particularly his protagonist Dr. Arroway. There is something in the way she is constantly faced with mind-swaying adversities, that I find particularly poignant as I continue to encounter the argument that women don’t belong in Science Fiction or are left out in discussions of the genre.
Not only is the main character of Carl Sagan’s Contact, Dr. Arroway, a female scientist, but the President of the United States in the late 1900’s is also a woman. Both are confronted by the Assistant Secretary of Defense, who believes neither are doing all that they can to keep information about potential extraterrestrial intelligence well guarded. He sees only a threat to security, while Dr. Arroway and the President see a problem that can only be solved with the help of many countries. Sagan constantly describes the reactions of a number of the people that Dr. Arroway interacts with when she first walks into a room or describes her scientific pursuits. She faces the “women shouldn’t be scientists” argument as well as the frustrations of being ignored and talked over when in a group with her colleagues. She is not credited for her discovery of signals from a nearby star, nor is her research considered by her boss to be a serious endeavor. After all, there are much better things to be doing with a field of radio telescopes than searching for intelligent life off the planet. Nevertheless, Dr. Arroway is relentless in her pursuits, and is motivated by her interest in discovering extraterrestrial life rather than being credited for it. If she is drowned out, she talks louder. If her arguments are dismissed as invalid, she puts the facts out where everyone can see them. She pushes through adversity, persists, driven by her interest and determination to her pursuits.
Women in Science Fiction are tough. They’re not going to give up easily, and they pursue all avenues to get what they want most out of life. Dr. Arroway persists in her endeavors, and this is certainly true of Astrid in Crystal Jackson’s The Singularity. Catch Science Fiction Theatre Company’s production of The Singularity opening this weekend.
