Private Vasquez

Private Vasquez
Marine
from Aliens
Vasquez in a military pose. Note her serious, unsmiling expression. Women are often expected or told to smile; not smiling can be seen as unfeminine, or coding for butchness.
Encyclopedia of Female Characters
Issues in characterization: Identities, representation, stereotypes Roles, relationships, & character arcs
Indexes of female characters: notable female characters ... by occupation ... by ethnic, sexual, other identity ... by skill or ability ... by series or work ... Research and lists of female characters
Comprehensive: A-G ... H-P ... Q-Z browse index

Women of color in SF
Characters & works: Protagonists Protagonists (YA) Characters Issues & stereotypes: Black warrior woman ... Dragon lady Casting actors
Writers & other people: Writers Other creators SF people
See also: Female characters Female authors Oppressions & intersections
About the IWOCSF

Private Vasquez was a Latina Marine in the movie Aliens (played by actor Jenette Goldstein). Vasquez was killed on the colony LV-426 in battle with the aliens.

Analysis

Unlike many women in film at that point, Vasquez was noticeably muscular. She also had one of the best lines in the film:

Hudson: Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?

Vasquez: No. Have you?

Here, the character confronts sexism with a sharp retort. It's clear from the exchange, though, that in this future, tough women in the marines can still occasion comment, although they are not necessarily a rarity.

Female characters who were visibly muscular and strong were a rarity in commercial US film releases at the time of "Aliens" (1986); they were still rare enough five years later that Linda Hamilton's buff appearance as Sarah Connor in "Terminator 2" (1991) also excited notice.

Vasquez is laudable in many ways: by including her, it is apparent that Sigourney Weaver's character Ellen Ripley isn't a one-off, the rare exceptional woman among men. At the least, Vasquez' character suggests that tough, competent women aren't uncommon (although still not, perhaps, commonplace).

Coding her as physically strong or butch was at that time -- and twenty years later, still is -- also a rarity, and a welcome portrayal on the screen.

Vasquez firing a weapon. Note (and admire) her arm musculature.

Race and casting issues

The presence of a Latina character -- again, still, today, underrepresented -- was likewise welcome.

However, while all these things are true, it is also true that there is some sort of disproportionate representation of kick-assery among women of color; as if it is safer (for white male creators) to confront the traditional images of femininity in a woman of color. This pattern can also be seen in the numerous representations of Black warrior women, and it suggests that racist views of women of color -- particularly women of African descent -- affect the casting and characterization of female roles. Sigourney Weaver was butched up for this role, but not as significantly as Vasquez; as they are the two most prominent women in the episode, this strongly suggests some comparisons between the two.

The casting also raises some questions. Historically in the US in white media, white actors were often cast as people of color, donning blackface or in other ways trying to code themselves as a person of color. These characterizations were often offensive, relying on the grossest stereotypes, both in make-up and dress and in acting choices. Casting white actors also fostered persistent racism in Hollywood and theatrical circles, leading to segregation in media production and distribution as well as consumption. In the 1980s and 1990s (and today in the early 21st century) there was still significant discrimination against people of color in the film industry. Casting Jenette Goldstein to play Private Vasquez has to be considered in light of that history and economy as well.

Vasquez with the men in her squadron

Further reading

• My New Plaid Pants entry in the 2007 Action Heroine Blog-a-Thon