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Sex In Science FictionModern science fiction frequently involves themes of sex, gender and sexuality. This was not always so. During the 1930s and 40s "golden age" of science fiction sex was rarely if ever even mentioned, although there was certainly no lack of innuendo and suggestion. The idea, however, that strong female characters played little or no role in the pulps of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, is wrong. The "Golden Age" While the stereotype of the early SF pulp magazine cover is a woman in a brass bikini swooning in the clutches of a bug-eyed monster, while a spacesuited hero comes blasting his way to her rescue, even a cursory examination of the covers of old pulps shows this to be very much mistaken. In if not a majority of the covers at least a significant number, women are depicted in strong, positive roles. True, they may be scantily clad, but there is no mistaking the fact that they are very much in charge of the situation. Even the pulp magazine most associated with the stereotypically sexist cover, Planet Stories, featured more than its share of women depicted in strong roles. Ironically, given its leading place in the stereotype, many Planet Stories covers feature a male character being rescued from a monster by a ray gun-toting woman! Within the golden age pulps there was no lack of strong female characters. It is difficult to go through more than half a dozen magazines without finding at least one heroine---and in some cases, a magazine might feature two or three stories with powerful female characters. There were even popular female series characters, such as Arthur K. Barnes' Gerry Carlyle, whose stories ran for many years. The "New Wave" Still, sex rarely if ever raised its head until the New Wave science fiction of the 1960s and 1970s, which reflected its times by attempting to break earlier taboos about what could and could not be the subject of science fiction. The men's magazine Playboy published regular serious science fiction stories throughout this period, by both male and female authors, offering them significantly more scope than some other publications. Two different themes emerged: one trying to explore the boundaries of what "sex" could mean in a world of altered humanity and reality, and another of exploring the position of women in science fiction and feminist issues in what had been traditionally a form of fiction written primarily by and for men. Notable works with sexual themes Significant uses of sexual themes in serious science fiction include: | ear | Author | Title | Comments | | 919 | James Branch Cabell | Jurgen | | 932 | Aldous Huxley | Brave New World | Only promiscuity is socially acceptable | | 953 | Theodore Sturgeon | The World Well Lost | Alien homosexuality | | 961 | Robert A. Heinlein | Stranger in a Strange Land | The Crche, a form of group marriage | | 961 | Brian Aldiss | The Primal Urge | Emotion Register on forehead tells others when you experience sexual attraction | | 962 | Naomi Mitchison | Memoirs of a Spacewoman | Interspecies mating during shore leave; aliens that change their sex | | 965 | Frank Herbert | The Dune series | | 966 | Robert A. Heinlein | The Moon is a Harsh Mistress | Various forms of group marriage; professional host-mothers | | 967 | Harlan Ellison, ed. | Dangerous Visions | | 969 | Kurt Vonnegut | Slaughterhouse-Five | Naked with a porn star in an alien zoo | | 969 | Ursula K. Le Guin | The Left Hand of Darkness | A planet of androgynes, where non-androgynous people are 'perverts' | | 970 | Robert Silverberg | Tower of Glass | Graphic descriptions of anatomy | | 972 | Thomas M. Disch | 334 | Flexible sexual relationships, but compulsory contraception | | 972 | Isaac Asimov | The Gods Themselves | Aliens with 3 sexes; co-penetration | | 974 | Samuel R. Delany | Dhalgren | Sexual freedom and exploitation in all conceivable combinations | | 975 | Joanna Russ | The Female Man | Four parallel universes, one with no men, one with male sex slaves | | 976 | Samuel R. Delany | Trouble on Triton | Male bisexual with gender issues | | 978 | Gardner Dozois | Strangers | Human must be surgically changed to alien to mate with his alien lover | | 979 | John Varley | Titan | A future where sex changes and other radical body modifications are commonplace | | 980 | Larry Niven | Ringworld | Rishathra, sex between humanoid aliens of different species | | 982 | Anne Carlisle, et al. | Liquid Sky | A comedic science fiction film in which space aliens land to feed off of endorphins released during orgasm | | 984-86 | Mike Resnick | Tales of the Velvet Comet | Four novels set on a spaceship bordello | | 985 | Margaret Atwood | The Handmaid's Tale | Five classes of women, one only for procreation | | 986 | Theodore Sturgeon | Godbody | Religious sexuality | | 986 | Lois McMaster Bujold | Ethan of Athos | Gynecologist on planet with no women | | 987 | Iain M. Banks | The Culture novels | Where humans can change sex at will | | 987-93 | Storm Constantine | The various Wraeththu novels | Humanity mutates into a hermaphroditic race | | 989 | Spider Robinson | Callahan's Lady | The most amazing House of Prostitution Anytime, Anyplace and Anywhen | | 993 | David Brin | Glory Season | Sexual vs. asexual reproduction | | 998 | James Alan Gardner | Commitment Hour | Children alternate between male and female every year until age 20, when they must choose | | 998 | John R. Plunkett | Star Dancer | Several genetically engineereed species, mixtures of man and animal, exploring sexuality with themselves and humans (some species are hermaphrodite while other can change their gender at will (see also Sie and hir)) | | 003 | M. Christian | The Bachelor Machine | Sex robots that accept credit cards | Others: Themes explored Some of the themes explored include: Other sub-genres A number of works of mainstream erotica, including the Gor novels by John Norman, have also used the science fiction format. There is now a separate sub-genre of science fiction erotica that aims to integrate the two genres: writers in this genre include Cecilia Tan, whose small press Circlet Press caters especially to adult science fiction fans. Science fiction erotica is frequently associated with Lesbian science fiction or S/M (Sado/Masochism) Erotica. Examples of science fiction erotica include: In recent years there has been a growing BDSM awareness in the science fiction and fan community. Movies and TV Series Numerous science fiction television series and science fiction films have used science fiction plots as an excuse to fit in gratuitous sexual or fetishistic content: one of the conventions of much filmed science fiction appears to be that the future will be peopled exclusively by attractive people wearing skin-tight clothing in shiny materials. Nevertheless, some science fiction-themed TV shows, such as Farscape, have been acclaimed for their handling of such themes. The series Lexx features sexual themes in almost every episode, and Andromeda is imbued with the carefree sexual spirit that seems to characterize the spacefaring future (or, at least, screenwriters' hopes for it.) It's interesting to consider the varying treatment of sexuality among the sundry Star Trek series. James T. Kirk earned a pop-culture reputation for bedding countless green-skinned alien women portrayed in the soft lighting characteristic of 1970's romantic pulp. , usually regarded as a pinnacle of principled (i.e., less gratuitous) sci-fi TV, featured a risque theme in episode #2 that involved sex between a female officer and the automaton Mr. Data. The focus on sexy females was ramped up in all of the subsequent series (with increasing obviousness) - notably Deep Space 9's Jadzia Dax, Voyager's Seven Of Nine, and Enterprise's sultry T'Pol. This trend - no-strings sex, to mostly-limited-to-relationships sex, to gratuitous exploitation - has some close ties to American pop-culture views on sexuality; which created which? Canonical movie examples include the 1967 movie Barbarella and, of course, Carrie Fisher's dabblings with a certain gold lame bikini in Return of the Jedi. See also External links
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