Sexism in SF

Sexism in SF makes itself manifest in numerous ways:

fictional representations

• representations of women and female characters within SF
  • inadequate representations: a dearth of representations of female characters, too few, not enough, not comparably deep or fully realized
  • gendered representations - marked as female without questioning or considering that gendering. Specific gendered representations are not necessarily sexist and may in fact be feminist or challenges to sexism. But omnipresent unquestioned gendering is a type of sexism in itself.
    • sex roles
    • occupations
    • gender and ethnicity; or gender and other identity issues, such as age, sexual orientation, etc.
  • sexist representations, especially of female but of any characters: relying on stereotypes; shallow

• representations of issues that are gendered "feminine" or of "female interest" or issues that are coded "women's issues"

fandom and professional communities

• professional opportunities for female creators
• professional opportunities for creators who work in areas marked as women and therefore not "default" male
• unequal rewards, recognition, compensation for female creators
  • awards
  • disparate compensation based on gender
• gendering of work within SF and fandom (are men doing programming at cons and women doing the consuites and childcare? are men officers of associations more frequently than women?)
• unconscious bias against female creators (the reason why so many women use masculine or gender-neutral pseudonyms or variant names)
• readers' and fans' deliberate bias against works with female characters, "female" themes, female creators
• publishers' and editors' unconscious or deliberate bias against works with female characters, "female" themes, female creators
• fans', readers', publishers' and editors' assumptions and distinctions about such work: "hard" versus "soft" science; "science fiction" versus "fantasy"

• unequal access to opportunities for female creators
  • gender- and race-specific (and size- and age-specific) casting of actors
  • institutional barriers that handicap women (e.g., old boys networks in film schools)
  • socialization (e.g., young girls and science)

• incidents of sexual violence, sexual harassment, disparate sexual objectification of fans
• sexist language in fans; see women's experiences in filmgoing ("Welcome to the Dollhouse" at the Brew'n'View, Chicago); women's experiences in RPG environments
• systemic barriers at cons; e.g., inadequate attention to nursing rooms; lack of childcare which disproportionately affects women who are disproportionately tasked with childcare

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