Sexual Generations: Star Trek: The Next Generation and Gender [Hardcover]

Robin Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 1999

Boldly going where no one has gone before, Robin Roberts forges intriguing links between feminist politics and theory and the second "Star Trek" series, "Star Trek: The Next Generation". This lively discussion shows how science fiction's ability to make the familiar strange allows "Star Trek" to expose and comment on entrenched attitudes toward gender roles and feminist issues. By having aliens or sexually neutral beings enact female dominance or passivity, experience pregnancy or maternity, or suffer rape or abortion, "Star Trek" provides viewers with a new perspective on these experiences and an antidote to explicit and implicit cultural biases. Roberts maintains that the relevance of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" to feminist issues accounts as no other factor can for the program's huge following of female fans. The incisive and innovative readings in "Sexual Generations" provide food for thought about how the final frontier can clarify pressing questions of our own space and time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Roberts is arguing for a truly 'high art,' forged out of gender theory and the highly popular Trek episodes. But it is not only high art she is talking about; it is the cultural history of our century."-Donald M. Hassler, editor of Extrapolation: The Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Studies "A new and worthwhile addition... The issues raised in this book, and on the show itself, are certainly valid and offer a rich field for discussion." - Science Fiction Research Association "Roberts has put together a thorough, rigorous, and insightful analysis of gender in The Next Generation, covering both the elements that imagine a different space-time and the contradictions that derive from contemporary sociopolitical norms... An ideal book to use in courses that address contemporary television, science fiction, media feminism, and, of course, Star Trek." -- Daniel Bernardi, Science Fiction Studies ADVANCE PRAISE "Roberts is a superb explicator of Star Trek: The Next Generation, offering stunning analyses of the figures of the female ruler, the perfect female mate, the female alien as a reworking of the story of the tragic mulatto, and the antiromance perspective of the rape episodes."-Jane Donawerth, author of Frankenstein's Daughters: Women Writing Science Fiction

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (September 14, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252024559
• ISBN-13: 978-0252024559
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,360,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother, it's not worth it, April 2, 2007

By 

Ruthi - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sexual Generations: Star Trek: The Next Generation and Gender (Paperback)

I wanted to like this book. I really did. It's a discussion of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" from a feminist viewpoint. However, after reading it, I can't really say very many positive things about it. It seemed to me as if every point Roberts made was illogical and simply manipulated the episodes to suit the point she was trying to make. Part of the problem is that it was based a lot on French feminism, which I find uneven at times, but there is good writing that stems from it, and this is not it. Roberts contradicted herself, and used to the same evidence in various parts of the book to come to different conclusions.

I was hoping she might redeem herself in the conclusion, as I often found authors have more coherency in their conclusions, but no. The conclusion was just another ruined analysis, this time of "Voyager". When I finally put the book down, I was relieved.

17 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Data as Stepford Wife, January 16, 2000

By 

Kayla Rigney "To save one life is to save the... (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sexual Generations: Star Trek: The Next Generation and Gender (Paperback)

Got your attention, didn't I? This book explores the different depictions of gender in Star Trek Next Generation. It addresses issues that have made me vaguely uneasy about the series and explores their meaning within the STNG "universe." (I'm referring to issues like race, gender roles, and the "other" as metaphor.) This is definitely NOT a study for those who adhere to the Star Trek canon. However, if you're open alternate points of view, you'll really enjoy "Sexual Generations." The only critisism I have is that I think the authors should have expanded their study to include fanfic -- which often pushes the limits of gender much more radically than Star Trek Next Generation ever did.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Where to start..., February 3, 2008

By 

Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Sexual Generations: Star Trek: The Next Generation and Gender (Paperback)

First off, many of the facts are wrong. And when you are building a discussion, no matter what the subject, you have to build on a stolid foundation. Example, on page 94 she says that First Contact was the first New Generations movie. No, it was the second. Another example on page 130, she says that in the original Star Trek we saw no female Klingons at all. Wrong. Day of the Dove had a female Klingon who was a major character in the story's plot.
Now, outside of that the book also shows her need to define everything as either feminine or masculine. Space is feminine. But by the next chapter nature is also feminine and technology is masculine. But she doesn't stop there. Aliens are feminine, robots are feminine, and so is Data. But Data and robots are products of technology. I thought they would be masculine? And how about the Borg who show up in the Next Generation?
Some of the episodes she lists do support her point of view but others can be seen in all kinds of ways. Galaxy's Child for example - the crew didn't want the boy to live with the fake mother, not because they hate mothers, but because it wouldn't have been real. Where would he have gotten friends, family, and love?
It is an interesting book but for people who are really into Star Trek and are die-hard fans I would suggest not reading it. I am not that die-hard but even I have a hard time with many of the chapters.