Gendered Institutions and Processes

Gendered institutions are pretty much everywhere and it seems impossible to find an institution that does not reinforce gender inequality. The media industry in general is run by and targeted towards men as well as reflecting a larger patriarchal world view. I'm going to look specifically at Science Fiction and Fantasy genres in the following analysis.
The history of these genres (as in all of recorded art history) emphasizes men and men's creations. Male-centric history would have us believe that men are the creators of culture and women exist only on the sidelines as caretakers, or at best function as the muses who inspire great men to artistic creation but who are not directly involved in the creative process. There are of course women who have made significant contributions to SciFi and Fantasy (Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and the contemporary feminist writer Ursula Le Guin, are a few well known names.) However, women like these seem to still be seen as the exception to 'the rule' that says men create culture and art.
I'll try not to write an essay here on the skewed nature of art history, however it is an important context to have when approaching contemporary Science Fiction and Fantasy media.

As a female bodied human being, I am always amazed at how men react with surprise to my interest in 'geeky' things like Science Fiction. They then cite examples of media that are well known like "did you see the new Iron Man, Hulk, X-men, insert big-box testosterone flick here?"
While I'm happy to discuss the merits of industry giants Marvel and DC (my parents own stock in Marvel and it continues to prosper) it's disappointing that the average consumer has no idea that there is so much more to the genre than films like these.

This is especially hard to ignore as a consumer of contemporary Japanese and South Korean media. As 'manga' and 'anime' became more popular in the West there has been an increase in comics and films by and for women. Some of my very favorite artists lie within this genre. One of the better known creators in this genre is the groundbreaking artists collective CLAMP-- started by four women who were friends in high school and has grown in to a much larger project.

CLAMP's story lines are often less focused on action and more on the complex desires, secrets and relationships between their characters. Their visual style is bright, soft, and pleasing to look at.





There are more women artists successfully creating comics in Japan then there are women artists involved in the American comics scene. This can be clearly observed when looking at the 'guests' list for a SciFi, fantasy, or comic convention (they are mostly male.) Anime conventions do have a higher number of female guests and attendees than the average American media convention (although there are exceptions in certain sub-genre conventions such as Dr. Who.)

This post has been an overview of how I see gender at work in the SciFi and Fantasy genres today. My final post on this subject will focus more on the negative reinforcement of gender inequality by analyzing the recent blockbuster hit Avatar.