Geekitude: Fire-breathing warrior women of science fiction

In much of geek media, including many movies, comic books, video games, anime and table-top role-playing, the female characters are often packaged up into clean stereotypes. Before I put my foot in my mouth, let me add that this isn’t always the case—especially in stories of higher quality. But stereotypes are common nonetheless.

In fantasy, the stereotypes are familiar. The damsel in distress. The helpless daughter who is forced to marry the wicked old man instead of the poor boy whom she really loves. The princess in the tower. This final one is reflected in the well-known space fantasy “Star Wars”—of course, here the Death Star was substituted for the tower (which would make Vader the dragon? Or maybe the more reptilian-looking Grand Moff Tarkin?). “Star Wars” is more fantasy than science fiction in this respect.

Other less fairy-tale-inspired genres (most notably science fiction and some anime) offer a very different stereotype: the muscled, badass warrior woman. We’ve all met her, in one form or another. She doesn’t take any crap from the traditional boys’ club of geekdom.

Certainly, this warrior woman is a step up from fantasy’s damsel in distress. But as a standard element of a large portion of geek genres, she remains problematic. For one thing, the combined elements of “sexy” and “warrior” too often create ridiculous impossibilities. For example, take a look at the character Anna in the movie “Van Helsing.” Can any REAL woman somehow engage in fierce hand-to-hand combat while wearing stilettos and a fully-laced leather corset? As a geeky woman, I can testify that I have worn these types of corsets. Squeezed into one of those, I can barely bend over, let alone perform a backwards somersault while kicking out someone’s teeth.

The “sexy” elements of the warrior woman are also often exaggerated way too far. One might imagine that these soft-pornographic corseted beauties are only there to satisfy the dirty minds of certain viewers. To counterbalance this accusation, creators of the warrior women will keep the established maxed-out levels of sexiness while amping up the woman’s outward displays of self-confidence. This heavy-handed effort rarely achieves the desired effect. Instead of an admirable empowered woman, we are left with a hyper-sexualized, bloodthirsty dominatrix, ready to bite off the heads of her lovers like a praying mantis.

Yikes.

But I don’t mean to be so pessimistic. Some truly admirable women do exist in geek genres. It IS possible to create a warrior woman without rejecting or hyper-sexualizing her femininity—a geek-genre woman who can kick butt, look beautiful... AND be a living, breathing, realistic human.

The most notable example of this achievement is the character Zoe Washburne from Joss Whedon’s space western “Firefly” (and its movie sequel, “Serenity”). Far from a damsel in distress, Zoe is a battle-hardened war veteran. Focused, fit and serious, she knows how to shoot guns and devise military strategy. She is also very, very attractive. However, one thing separates her from the stereotyped warrior woman described above—Zoe is happily and monogamously married. Whedon and the show’s creators made the brilliant decision to make her a wife from the start. No courtship woes or heavy-handed love triangles. Zoe and her husband Hoban “Wash” Washburne had tied the knot long before the show begins. There is also an instance in a late episode where she and Wash discuss having a baby.

A science fiction warrior woman settling down, getting married and having babies? Say what? Here is someone who is not quite so familiar as the damsel in distress and the corseted praying mantis. She is comfortable appropriating the traditionally male role of the warrior, while not rejecting her femininity or overcompensating for it.

It’s refreshing, isn’t it? Geek genres need more of these real women. Let’s loosen those corset laces.