It aims not only to challenge these stereotypes, but to give women a greater voice in a genre where they are often marginalised and forced to accept the views of a media that often panders too greatly to the male gaze.
SOUNDS A BIT SCARY:
I know! BUT we also aim to please and we're not without a sense of humour. Within our pages you'll not only find serious and thought-provoking essays and articles BUT geek humour; fan girls sharing their secret and not-so secret obsessions; collectors pages; convention reports; interviews with female SF journalists and writers; reviews of films, novels and TV shows - both old and new and articles about your favourite SF heroines.
ALL WRITTEN FOR WOMEN BY WOMEN.
Okay....I'm with you so far BUT:
I'M A GUY! CAN I WRITE FOR YOU?
Of course you can! The more the merrier and well done for asking! Whilst SF Girl is written for women by women, we are not exclusivist and always welcome a translator from the Y side of things. Just don't forget who your audience is!
One Girl Revolution - One Woman At A Time.
I started this blog and this magazine because I knew there were lots of women out there who felt the same. I want to give them a real voice within the SF community and a unique place where they can express their views on what excites and inspires them within the genre. It definitely wouldn’t hurt to bring some female voices to the table, seeing as there are so many of them crying out to begin with. More women are reading and watching SF and Fantasy than ever before, the more I speak to and meet fellow female fans, the more I see this is true; and whilst there are some fabulously written titles out there on the shelves, such as the: SFX, Death Ray and Sci-Fi Now magazines. I still feel none of them are truly acknowledging and embracing their female audience.Mainly because their writing staff is made up almost predominantly of men. Having worked at SFX Magazine, for a week of work experience, I got used to the blokey banter, but there were times where, being the one of only three girls in an office of men, I felt a bit set apart and lonely, despite throughly enjoying the work and the company. There are great female SF journalists out there such as Tara DiLullo Bennett and Jayne Nelson, but they are as rare as stardust. I know I want to be one of them and make a real difference. I also firmly believe female readers are settling for male-orientated SF mags simply because there are no other outlets available to them. SF Girl's mission is to provide that outlet, that elusive missing piece in the intergalactic female puzzle.
Challenging the Male Gaze
Don’t get me wrong, I know sometimes it’s the women that make up the audience minority, often accounting for only a quarter of a SF magazine’s reader demographic. Although, I wonder whether this might be because some women are put off by the general male-orientated tone of the writing. Personally, I get fed up with the occasional captions that explicitly put a hot, scantily-clad, SF woman in the foreground with a deliberately ogling comment. It makes me feel as if the writer’s assume so few women read the magazine, no one’s likely to be offended by the gesture. Well, sorry lads, but I am and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Of course, many magazines are slaves to their readership in a constant cycle of supply and demand, so if the male readers want to stare longingly up Hayden Panettiere’s increasingly short cheerleading skirts, than that’s what gets spread across the front page (considering how young Hayden is, I find this a little disturbing). Yes, I realise not all fan boys are slavering cavemen, but it irritates me how often women in SF have to wear ridiculously tight and fetishised costumes just to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
There's more to a woman than the shortness of her skirt.
“Sex sells” as any advertising company would tell you. But, it is truly fair when that selling seems to aim itself in only one direction? Let’s be clear: most female fans often have shallow needs too. I’m not adverse to staring wistfully at the sublimely gorgeous and talented David Tennant every Saturday evening (along –it seems-with every other girl in Britain) and the sheer number of times Angel and Spike appeared with their shirts off on Buffy the Vampire Slayer did get a tad ridiculous sometimes. So, let’s not rule out own ogling tendencies, girls. But why, I must ask, should we settle for accepting that “boys will be boys”, without questioning whether we are just settling for second best in the reader and audience stakes? This leads me to the following question:
Admittedly there are some great blogs, webzines and fan campaigns out there for female fans, such as Pink Raygun and Fan Girl Magazine. But, they’re very rarely updated and appear, despite the quality of their reviews, to be simply a collection of links and fragments of female fan commentary. I feel, from my own perspective as a fellow female SF fan, that we need a real, tangible magazine to call our own. My mission is to work seriously hard to make this dream a printed reality. I do it because I know what it would have meant to me to have a magazine appear on my doorstep that let me know I wasn’t alone in my interests. That there were other women out there like me, who loved science fiction. I do it because I’m one of you too and it’s that passion and commitment that keeps me writing.
What do people think women want from genre programming?
“Charmed” (1998-2006) was a highly successful teen supernatural show about three witches and it became hugely popular with young girls and women who did not normally watch genre shows. Essentially, it was an endearing, but often lazily written chick flick with skimpy costumes, demons and magic. I do watch it and enjoy it for what it is, but I’m not immune to how poorly scripted and acted it is in places. The show’s focus was often more on the girls’ love lives than their supernatural dilemmas. It is often mocked by male SF fans as “that awful programme the girlfriend watches,” when they can’t persuade their other half to watch anything else. If this is what most SF fans think women prefer to watch within the genre, then I’m very afraid for our chances at being taken seriously as real fans.
So what do SF Women really want?
The same things you do! I (and I’m sure many other women) adore traditional science fiction shows like Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica for many reasons, from the quality of the acting, the writing and the storytelling, as well as the kick-ass fight scenes, the snappy dialogue, big explosions and amazing space battles. If the romances and sex scenes are tasteful and genuinely fit the story then I’m happy to have them there, otherwise leave it out, it serves no real purpose other than titillation. Also, please, for the love of God, SF writers don’t assume that all women want is a romantic comedy in space. The fact that I know what a Viper and a FTL drive is, as well as being able to point out the difference between an A-Wing and Y-Wing star-fighter often gives me serious nerd kudos among my male friends, and why not? Who says a girl can’t feel a huge surge of adrenalin as Starbuck and co. come blasting into a war zone with all guns blazing. Sometimes it’s all I live for. *grins*
All I, and many other female fans, ask for is for strong female characters that are well written (or realistically drawn, if we’re talking about graphic novels) and portrayed as real, strong, but emotionally complex women, rather than cardboard sex objects.
Virginia Woolf may never have written any science fiction during her lifetime, but she got it right when she said: “A woman needs a room of her own, if she is to write.” We need a magazine of our own. An inner space within outer space, if you will, that is uniquely ours. SF Girl Magazine hopes to not only fulfil that goal, but provide readers with red-hot reviews, features and debates on everything from your favourite SF heroines and classic films to the latest news and releases, all with women firmly in mind. Always boldly going where no man has gone before.
I hope you’ll come along for the ride.
How do I get involved?
We have a website that is currently under construction. This will boast an exciting on-line forum and plenty of exciting features. The site will hopefully be launched over Summer 2008. We can be found at www.sfgirlmagazine.com.
Whatever you choose, stick with SF Girl and you’ll be sure of an exciting and illuminating journey. Prepare for a great adventure!
Kelly Sorbie – SF Girl Editor Extraordinaire
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