Star Wars & Women: One Step Forward, Two Steps Backward

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Title:	Star Wars & Women: One Step Forward, Two Steps Backward
Creator:	Barbra Wheadon, a pseud for Winston Howlett
Date(s):	1978
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Star Wars
Topic:
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Star Wars & Women: One Step Forward, Two Steps Backward is a Star Wars essay by Winston Howlett using the pseud "Barbra Wheadon."

It was printed in Tetrumbriant #14.

The Essay

First of all, let me say that I love "Star Wars". It's the best thing to come along since "Star Trek", and I can hardly wait for the sequel. I've seen it three times already, and plan to see it at least once a month until they stop running it (which I hope is never).

But I still want to go after writer-director George Lucas with a Gaffi stick for what he did with the women in his fantasy universe... or perhaps I should say to the women. Never before in the history of science fiction have I seen such a weird set of social contradictions in a story.

First, a big step forward - Princess Leia Organa, who — despite the filthy suggestiveness of her name — is quite a woman. At the age of twenty, she is the senatorial representative for an entire planet. She would also seem to be one of the commanders of the rebellion to save the galaxy. Personality-wise, she is the best female cinematic character since Jane Russell's roles in Bob Hope's old comedy-westerns; very self-assured, keeps her cool under fire, only shows fear when danger is beyond her ability to handle, can hold her own in a verbal battle with anybody, and doesn't turn to jelly in the first pair of macho arms that happen by. This is a vast improvement over "Captain, I'm frightened!" - "Have some plomek soup, Spock!" -- and (Yuch!) "Captain, look at my legs!".

But now we slide into neutral and look at the only other woman in the story, Luke Skywalker's Aunt Beru. Okay, gang, now we're back in familiar territory, the gentle and unassuming farmer's wife who speaks her maternal wisdom ever-so-gently; faithfully cooks her family's meals, and has finally reached the end of her life-long quest for a droid that speaks "Bocchi".

Mama Walton has moved to Tatooine.

And now we shift into reverse, for in a story of visual hundreds and implied thousands (billions, if you count the population of Alderaan), there are only five other females even seen in this movie, all of whom you can literally on one hand; two in the cantina (if you-blink, you miss them) and three who jump out of the way as the Imperial Stormtroopers rush to Docking Bay 9.

Not one female walks down the corridors of the massive Death Star, there are no women involved in the preparations for the Final Battle, and if one woman (other than the princess) was in that vast throne room when Luke and Han got their medals, I surely could not find her.

Either the pleasure planets in that galaxy did fantastic business, or there was something really strange going on a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. (Maybe that's the real reason why Han Solo was so anxious to get out of the secret rebel base...)

In a world where a very young female ambassador is apparently unremarkable, there should be some other evidence of sexual equality. Sadly, "Star Wars" has none. A few female fighter pilots in the Final Battle would have been an interesting facet, and not some thing totally new to visual science fiction (Anybody here remember the Angels in TV's "Captain" Scarlet"?), even "Star Trek" had a female engineer and a helmswoman or two on the Enterprise. If not for Princess Leia, one could say that things have gotten totally worse since "Trek", instead of better. With all the care that went into putting together such a fantastic yet believable universe, it would seem that a lot of very creative minds really missed the starship in this respect.

At this year's August Party, "Star Wars" took over the Costume Call. Practically every character from the movie was represented. But what I remember best is a "Diane Solo", a fan's creation of a sister counterpart for the mercenary pirate, complete with strapped-on blaster and self-confident swagger. This is the kind of thinking that's needed to help in the fleshing out of the "Star Wars" universe.

And who knows? If enough of it shows up in the costume; calls of enough "Star Trek" and science fiction conventions, maybe George Lucas and Twentieth Century Fox will get the message. We can only hope.