The Best and the Worst - Depictions of women in Science Fiction Television series.

[YJ02]

All these silly ratings I can now give posts has got me spending more time rating than posting. I also seem to be handing out pointless ratings that make little sense.

I'll see your "old" and raise you with a "dumb"

 

[shavedape]

I would say the women in BABYLON 5 were depicted pretty well. Particularly Ivanova.

 

[shavedape]

That and I never saw it.

You've never seen the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer ?

 

[mzzz]

I'm gonna have to disagree with Voyager having strong female characters and not just because I hate the show with extreme prejudice. I say almost all of the characters were weak in Voyager due to how mediocre they were so the bar was set low.

Be'lanna, to me, was most definitely defined by her relationship to Tom. Most of the later episodes were devoted to how she can be a good obedient partner to that prick and navigate her own life around that ahole. And most of her characterizations and episodes were defined by the very thing she did not want to be defined by, her Klingnon side.

Janeway was extremely inconsistently written. Being in a commanding position doesn't make her a strong character to me. She was always written to be "right" for the most part, even when she makes bad decisions. That doesn't really show me as her being a good strong character, mostly badly written material attempting to make her a good strong character.

I thought Seven was alright but again, bad writing surrounded her and those twats running the show sexed her up way too much. And as evidenced by the vast majority of Trek fans, she's more primarily recollected as the sex object rather than the character. Don't even deny this man, all her fans mention/recall her as the sex object first, then a strong/developed character.

Definitely agree with Babylon 5 having strong female characters, although a few deviated later with relationship business. From all the sci-fi I've seen, including Firefly, I still consider Ivanova to be the best female character in sci-fi that I've seen on screen.

The way I see it is if the female characters tend primarily to be sources of melodrama/relationship issues in episodes, then they're not really strong characters. They're inserted to add that crappy kind of drama.

Also love how this thread started off with strong female characters then delved into hair for like 10 posts, LOL wtf.

 

[Gatefan1976]

You don't see Ivanova distracted by her interest in Sinclair? Her somewhat jealous attitude towards Delenn??

 

[mzzz]

It was very passing and was not the focus; she was jealous towards Delenn? I can't seem to recall that. Most relationship thing with her I can recall is with Marcus and her denying him.

 

[Gatefan1976]

No, the relationship was not the focus, but there is as much undercurrent of Sinclair/Ivanova as there is in Delenn/Lennier. The Lennier "unrequited love" got more screentime because it WAS a focus. Markus was more a Lancelot figure than anything else in that relationship, the "forbidden love" which totally screws the reason for Delenn to sacrifice her "pure heritage" for a human if she shacked up with Markus.

 

[mzzz]

Man, I can't even recall any undercurrent at all between Sinclair and Ivanova. There seemed to be some with Sinclair and Delenn though. Wait, what? Delenn had a thing for Marcus? Do you mean Sheridan?

 

[Gatefan1976]

I think I do mean Sheridan, my bad.

I'm tired dude, forgive my 1st season/rest of show slip up.

 

[mzzz]

No worries, a rewatch might be in order.

Man, I was looking at grad schools in Oz, and I saw a school that offered a Master's in Midwifery, no joke. But I guess it was a nursing specialization, just weird they call it that. Seems a bit outdated term or maybe it isn't.

 

[Gatefan1976]

It was probably a home nursing type of class.

 

[mzzz]

Think it might have been more pregnancy related stuff, midwife delivering babies or something.

 

[Jim of WVa]

Don't forget, the gel rubs were necessary, though I don't recall them ever having say, Tripp and Archer coming back from a trip at the same time...

I can just imagine T'Pol writing Trip up for having a boner in the decontamination room.

 

[YJ02]

Think it might have been more pregnancy related stuff, midwife delivering babies or something.

In England, apparently midwives are the leading med professionals in child birth:

United Kingdom[edit]
Midwives are practitioners in their own right in the United Kingdom, and take responsibility for the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care of women, up until 28 days after the birth, or as required thereafter. Midwives are the lead health care professional attending the majority of births, whether at home or in a hospital (although most births in the UK occur in a hospital). There are two routes to qualifying as a midwife. Most midwives now qualify via a direct entry course, which refers to a three- or four-year course undertaken at university that leads to a degree in midwifery (diploma courses in midwifery have been discontinued) and entitles them to apply for admission to the register. Following completion of nurse training, a nurse may become a registered midwife by completing an eighteen-month post-registration course (leading to a degree qualification); however, this route is only available to adult branch nurses, and any child, mental health, or learning disability branch nurse must complete the full three-year course to qualify as a midwife. Midwifery students do not pay tuition fees and are eligible for financial support for additional while training. Funding varies depending on which country within the UK the student is located, students are eligible for NHS bursaries in addition to a £1000 grant per year, neither are repaid.[32] Shortened course students, those who are already registered adult nurses, have different funding arrangements, and are employed by the local NHS Trust, via the Strategic Health Authority (SHA), and are paid a salary. This varies between universities and SHAs, with some students being paid their pre-training salary, others employed as a Band 5, and others paid a proportion of a Band 5 salary. Although most practising midwives within the United Kingdom are female, men are able to train but represent less than 0.5% of the NMC workforce register.[33]

All practising midwives must be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and also must have a Supervisor of Midwives through their local supervising authority. Most midwives work within the National Health Service, providing both hospital and community care, but a significant proportion work independently, providing total care for their clients within a community setting. However, recent government proposals to require insurance for all health professionals is threatening independent midwifery in England.[34]

Midwives are at all times responsible for the woman for whom they are caring, to know when to refer complications to medical staff, to act as the woman's advocate, and to ensure the mother retains choice and control over her childbirth experience.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwifery

 

[YJ02]

I can just imagine T'Pol writing Trip up for having a boner in the decontamination room.

"Cdr Tripp, you need to address your tense attitude immediately, it is not logical"

 

[mzzz]

You know if they really wanted to be progressive about the decontamination room, they shoulda had Trip and Archer rub each other down. But let's face it, it was just blatant sexism and almost as bad as HBO's gratuity.

 

[Bluce Ree]

That and I never saw it.

And you've missed nothing. Buffy blew.

 

[shavedape]

And you've missed nothing. Buffy blew.