Women and B5 (was Re: Paradigm shifts and B5/Trek)

[B5JMS Poster]

Subject: Women and B5 (was Re: Paradigm shifts and B5/Trek)
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 No. | DATE        |  FROM
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s  1: Nov 30, 1996: laurat at magpage.com (Laura Tessmer)
*  2: Dec  1, 1996: jmsatb5 at aol.com

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From: laurat at magpage.com (Laura Tessmer)
Lines: 43

In article <Pine.BSI.3.95.961129181930.10494A-100000 at bermuda.io.com>,
Katherine the Art Chick  <villyard at io.com> wrote:

[many wonderful things about women in ST that should be repeated, but were
deleted to save bandwidth]

>How can "First Contact" be so good and Deep Space Nine so bad, bad, 
>BAAAAD, piece-of-plywood BAD?

More money to be made on movies??? 

You bring up an interesting point, which I've been wanting to write about
for a while but haven't taken the time. How *real* the women on B5 are.
They aren't cutouts, they aren't either simpering waiting for the men to
do something, or so hopelessly trumped up on testosterone that they are
just male characters with boobs. 

This was really hammered home (and I do mean hammered, I'm really tired of
the two-by-fours to the head) during one of the early season four
episodes. Delenn, Ivanova, and Lyta decide they are going to do something,
and just *do* it. During that scene, I was awed at the raw power and
strength that they had. 

And yet, these women can also be women. Delenn in her black dress turning
heads, giggling at John's jokes, and teasing him. Then to turn around and
destroy the Grey Council, save B5 from the Earth Alliance, and become
Ranger One. The depth, the honesty, the reality of her. It is wonderful to
see such a character, to know that there are role models for a feminine
woman who can be hard as nails.

That didn't come out nearly as coherent as I wanted it to, but this seemed
to be the thread to add it to.

Thank you JMS for writing strong women who are real. 

laura

--
Laura Tessmer               *   Understanding is a three-edged
69763 at chopin.udel.edu       *   sword...knowledge, once received 
Dept. of Animal Science     *   and understood, is permanent and
University of Delaware      *   changes you forever.   JMS


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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com
Lines: 21

"And yet, these women can also be women. Delenn in her black dressturning
heads, giggling at John's jokes, and teasing him. Then to turn around and
destroy the Grey Council, save B5 from the Earth Alliance, and become
Ranger One. The depth, the honesty, the reality of her. It is wonderful to
see such a character, to know that there are role models for a feminine
woman who can be hard as nails."

I wish I could take more credit for this..."Oh, sure, I did this to create
strong role models, it was all conscious"...but the truth is, those are
the kind of women I've always found attractive: sharp, smart, funny,
strong, sexually assertive, credible...*women*.  Those are always the ones
I dated, the ones I hung out with as friends (on the theory that men and
women *can* be friends, it doesn't have to turn into dating)...so it's
just really a case of writing what I find appealing.  


 jms




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