Star Trek: Discovery and the Clueless
We’re getting a new Star Trek series!!! It’s called Star Trek: Discovery, and I’m excited for multiple reasons. We haven’t had a new Trek series in quite a while, and Michelle Yeoh is going to be a starship captain. I’m a big fan of Michelle Yeoh. She’s an amazing martial artist and an incredible actor. Sonequa Martin-Green (see below) will be her first officer. A Trek series piloted by women of color?!?! In addition, this will be one of the few SF properties wherein the women of color are not covered in makeup which hides their race. Also? A black woman with Vulcan training? (I can’t decide if she’s part Vulcan or a Federation ambassador’s kid or someone sent to Vulcan by the Federation to learn as much as possible.) That is wonderful. I can only imagine how affecting it is to see this kind of representation as a black woman who is also a Spock fan. (Hey, it only took a bunch of women pilots in the background of a Star Wars movie to bring me to tears.) Holy crap, I’m so proud to be a Trekkie at this moment, but I’m also disappointed.
Signal Boost #5: A Conversation about CoGeeko Ergo Sum
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFSignalBoost5CogeekoErgoSum/Sandf–SignalBoost5–CogeekoErgoSum.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSIn today’s episode of Signal Boost, Shaun and Jen have a conversation about their earliest memories of geekdom and how they came into their love of SFF from very different directions. In addition, they both have their mini-boosts for the week! Shaun cheats and boosts THREE things. That rapscallion. We hope you enjoy the episode! Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below):
CONvergence Ho! Call for Interviewees (Fans, Creators, Everyone!)
In less than a month, Paul Weimer, Mike Underwood, and Shaun Duke will be at CONvergence in Minneapolis, the City of Flower and Sawdust, the City of Lakes, the Mini Apple, one half of the Twin Cities. Woo! A few years ago, we conducted over a dozen interviews and discussions at CONvergence using a handy portable recorder and a partially reconstituted talking gerbil. We’d like to do something similar again in 2016! That’s where you come in. If you’re a fan, a creator (author, comic artist, whatever), or something else entirely, we’d like to talk to you! And that means you have to send us an email (skiffyandfanty[at]gmail[dot]com) with the subject line “CONvergence Podcast.” Here’s what we’re planning to record:
Shaun’s Rambles 006: Interviewing the Fans — Jukka Halme
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/ia601508.us.archive.org/31/items/ShaunsRambles006InterviewingTheFansJukkeHalme/ShaunsRambles006–InterviewingTheFans–JukkeHalme.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSWhat do Moomintrolls, Tolkien, 1978, and reindeer steaks have to do with Jukka Halme? In my third Interviewing the Fans feature, I talk to Jukka Halme about becoming an sf/f fan, the works that influenced him, the changing technological landscape, and Finland.
Guest Post: On sniping, women, and SF by Brenda Cooper
There’s a lot of sniping going on across genders in our field. Vitriolic sniping. Shame on us. Yes, science fiction is largely male dominated. So are a lot of fields. I know. My day job is in technology, where I’m a c-level exec. It wasn’t necessarily easy to get here even though I live in the liberal bubble of the West Coast where it’s easier than it is in a lot of places. I’ve been living this conversation my whole life across multiple fields of endeavor. Yes, it sucks. Yes, it needs to stop. But sniping isn’t the answer. Mind you, I’d be fine with sniping if it worked. It’s kind of fun. But as far as I can tell, it’s not effective. Yes, there are truly evil men out there in the midst of the current social fights, like whoever issued the death threats to women writing about feminism in the game world. This is not an article about how to deal with them. Jail time would be a great start.
Feminism in Science Fiction and Being a Feminist Ally
I had an interesting conversation with a good friend of mine the other day. She’s far more educated in Feminism than I — I never took a Women’s Studies course at the University, nor did I have many Feminist friends in college. (I was a geek.) Therefore, I read as much as I can on my own, talk with other Feminists, and form my own opinions. My friend stated that she firmly believes that men cannot be Feminists. They can only be Feminist Allies. She believes that men who claim the Feminist label are prone to use their male privilege to define Feminism, which is, in itself, a form of oppression. In short, when the oppressor defines for the oppressed what is oppressive there’s an instant conflict of interest. I’m conflicted about this, I have to admit. On one hand, she has a point. I think of this argument whenever white people declare whether or not something is ‘racist.’ It swiftly mutates into dictating to another person what their feelings are — dictating to them the words (and situations) by which they’re allowed to be insulted. So. Not. Cool. On the other hand, I believe Feminism must be inclusive in order to work, and telling men they can’t be Feminists is being exclusive.
