page_title: Gender in speculative fiction
section_title: Film
hierarchical_section_title: Gender in speculative fiction / Film and television / Film
caption_attribution_description: Film: Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) Director: en:Ed Wood, Jr. Actor Portrayed: en:Maila Nurmi Licensing The original 1959 version of this film is public domain, although there may be a copyright on the musical score
context_page_description: Gender has been an important theme explored in speculative fiction. The genres that make up speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, supernatural fiction horror, superhero fiction, science fantasy and related genres, have always offered the opportunity for writers to explore social conventions, including gender, gender roles, and beliefs about gender. Like all literary forms, the science fiction genre reflects the popular perceptions of the eras in which individual creators were writing; and those creators' responses to gender stereotypes and gender roles.
  Many writers have chosen to write with little or no questioning of gender roles, instead effectively reflecting their own cultural gender roles onto their fictional world. However, many other writers have chosen to use science fiction and non-realistic formats in order to explore cultural conventions, particularly gender roles.
context_section_description: Female characters in early science fiction films such as Barbarella (1968) were often portrayed as simple sex kittens.
  Professor Sherrie Inness has said that the portrayals of tough women in later science fiction embody women's fantasies of empowerment, such as the characters of Sharrow in the Iain M. Banks' novel Against a Dark Background (1993) or Alex in the film Nemesis 2, who both physically overpower male attackers.
caption: Maila Nurmi as Vampira in Plan 9 from Outer Space
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