The Clause

Fiction has always been the forerunner of societal change. Fiction novels brought us powerful women and interracial marriages before such ideas were being discussed in the theoretical world. But these ideas have been marginalized to the very outskirts of pop culture, forcing them to cause waves from such platforms as science fiction, film and television.

Battlestar Galactica (BSG) was a popular television series in 1978, where a collection of humans fought for their right to live against the evil forces of the cylons, a group of robots whom the humans had created.

The show was typical of the white patriarchal ideas that so often permeated television at that time.

But in 2003, the television series was re-vamped into a miniseries that rewrote our beloved characters into a group of emotionally messed-up humans and misguided cylons who played by anything but typical societal rules.

When I was first introduced to the series in 2005, having seen a few of the original episodes, I was struck by how different the characters in the new series were.

For starters, the three strongest characters are all female. The formerly handsome and suave Starbuck had gone from dude to dudette and was now a kick-butt female with the ability to out-box and out-fly her male counterpart Apollo. It was like Xena had moved to space and changed her hair color to blond.

Last fall, I took a science fiction and film course with Dr. Thom Parham and was given the opportunity to tackle ideas such as race and gender as portrayed in science fiction. I loved discussing such topics with people outside of the sci-fi geek community.

This year for Common Day of Learning, I am part ofthe session called Pop Culture from the Margins.

Professor Tim Posada, two other students and I have each researched a small portion of the pop-culture-marginalized community.

Our hope is that through discussions like ours and other CDL presentations, society can finally develop theories that go with the ideas presented in fiction.

BSG redefines gender roles with characters like Starbuck by creating powerful female action-heroes. The show also brought society the first female President, Laura Roslin. And before all of this, sci-fi shows like Xena, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Farscape and Firefly were pushing the idea that women can be physically powerful and men can be emotionally compassionate and both genders would be better off for it.

Gender roles were once specified and governed by lists of societal do’s and don’ts.

For example, when the Titanic was sinking in 1912, it was considered cowardice if a man tried to climb aboard a lifeboat. In Kate Chopain’s novel, The Awakening, the main character is wife to a rich businessman and is expected to sit at home and be available should anyone come to call, an idea she finds outlandish and a waste of time.

The Women’s Liberation movement in the 19th and 20th centuries changed these do’s and don’ts into a list of outdated ideas.

Today, the idea of a stay-at-home father is encouraged because psychology has shown that both male and female children need strong male role models.

BSG may be a work of fiction, but the ideas the show represents are important for reality.

Characters Helo and Athena are a father and mother whose active roles aboard the battlestar have forced them to balance their careers with parenthood.

When Helo is with his daughter he is the perfect father: kind, compassionate, strong and gentle. When Athena takes over she is the perfect mother: kind, compassionate, strong and gentle.

They both take parenting seriously and don’t quibble about who earns the most money or how a man or woman is supposed to behave within the construct of a family. Instead they share the responsibilities, each taking their turn cleaning the home or earning their income.

This mutual respect and equality may blur society’s pre-conceived notion of gender responsibilities, but I believe it breeds a happier home environment.

Starbuck is the best pilot in the fleet. She is also one of the strongest women to ever grace the television screen, but what makes her a beautiful character is that she is not just a female portraying a masculine character. Instead she is a female who is clearly female with an inner strength and physical prowess.

Her husband, Sam, is a guerilla warrior who is a strong fighter and a man who is ruled by the passions of his heart. He is the one who convinces Starbuck to settle down. Sam is the one who stands by her side and supports her emotionally, physically and mentally.

The role reversal may appear odd at first, but both characters are clearly male and female and yet neither adheres to the normal gender rules.

These are but a few examples of how BSG has redefined gender roles.

In fact, the past few science fiction television hits, such as Farscape and Battlestar Galactica, are shows that push for gender neutrality and the redefining of what it is to be male and female.

Change is coming. If the marginalized have already begun to embrace these changes, will it be too long before all of society joins us?