class and gender in Firefly/Serenity

[firecat]

Via my cousin-out-law Michael, an excellent blog post about class and gender in Firefly.

http://capitalismbad.blogspot.com/2005/12/in-which-i-descend-to-previously.html

I don't know that I agree with the blogger that geisha-type careers would not exist in cultures where women can hold a variety of respectable jobs, but I do agree with the blogger's dislike of the Mal/Inara relationship.

Comments

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

The quote I took as equating class with power of men over women in this context was this one:

"In the world of movies class is just another way of exploring the power men have over women."

I think that it's important that Inara's ability to leave was presented in a way that made it seem like a constant, viable and attractive option and one that would not hurt her at all and would hurt the crew a great deal. It came up multiple times that she had better options available to her and that she had control of her own destiny. In that context, I don't think that I really believe that Mal's actions were an exertion of power and that leaving being her only option was the classic power situation it's being made out to be. If anything, it felt more like Inara had the power in the situations and that her choosing to stand for his behaviour was part of her dysfunctional way of coping with her feelings for him (a theme that was played up on both their parts). In the conversation where he tried to assert that she would live by his rules while she was on his ship and she countered that as long as she was renting the space, the shuttle was her ship, not his, and she would make the rules, and he backed down, seemed like a clear situation of him saying, "I have the power here," and her saying, "No, you don't," and him agreeing.

I don't know if a a frequency approach to the references to her clients really holds *that* effectively in this case, since most of the references to her clients were included to set up jealousy and tension vis a vis her and Mal, and there is a strong idea in our society that men don't have a problem with women sleeping with other women, only other men.

[firecat]

OK, here is where I got my understanding of what the poster is saying about class and gender:

...a lot of culture (particularly television) ignores class entirely. At the movies, upper middle class America is the default - anything else is a concious choice - something that needs an explanation. Movies that show people from different classes relating to each other are even rarer.

I thought she was talking about something peculiar to TV and movies and not saying that class and gender power are the same in general.

I don't know if a a frequency approach to the references to her clients really holds *that* effectively in this case, since most of the references to her clients were included to set up jealousy and tension vis a vis her and Mal

It depends on how you're going about your analysis. I see three ways to analyze it:

1. Analyzing what you and others extrapolate in your minds about the fictional setting, based on seeing the show. In that case, people can imagine her having lots of female clients, and so exactly what gets shown and what doesn't isn't all that important; what's important is that certain possibilities are presented.

2. Analyzing the show against other shows of the same time period and medium. I'm not aware of any other early 21st century Tv/movie shows that include high-class companions with female clients, so in that analysis, the show is ahead in its treatment of such controversial subjects.

3. Analyzing what is actually shown in the episodes. If you focus on this, then the fact that most of her clients shown are men does send a message that her work is primarily pleasuring men; the reasons behind that choice aren't relevant. And the choice to show sexual jealousy frequently sends a message that sexual jealousy is culturally expected and appropriate.

The third kind of analysis is similar to feminist analysis of language in which we argue, for example, that using "man" to mean both male and female people is sexist because it makes women invisible. In this kind of analysis, what does not get shown or said is just as much a part of the sexism as what does. The theory behind it is that people's ideas of what's common, appropriate, and so on depend on what they see and don't see as much as or more than what they think about what they see and don't see.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I see your point in this. I do think, though, that their effort in presenting a female client combined with the cultural expectation that all of her clients would be male was intended to and in most cases did create the a lasting impression that she did have both female and male clients.

There's also the question of statistical necessity -- if she sees, say, six male clients to one female client, does that mean that her function is to please men? At what point do we get to ignore the explicit female client?

If nothing else, I also think that it's at least as likely that the difference in gender frequency may have been a conceit to the widespread disbelief that women, as providers/gatekeepers in the provider/consumer model of sexuality that is very popular, would never need to use such a service.

As to the choice to show jealousy frequently sending a message that sxual jealousy is culturally expected and appropriate, I'm not sure that that's not exactly the message being sent. I mean, I don't know Joss Whedon as a person, but that seems to be a common perception in our culture and I didn't get any impression from the show that he didn't agree with it. Unfortunate as it may be, there's definitely a widespread idea taht jealousy is a part of love and a signifier of love.

[flippac.livejournal.com]

To point out an obvious possibility, perhaps there're fewer women who like women in the 'verse than men who like women?

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

That's also quite possible.

[firecat]

Outside the realm of the 3d kind of analysis I mention in my comment, I agree with everything you say.

BTW, I am not claiming "Joss Whedon is a big sexist". He's clearly one of the more feminist writers in TV.

And I do think differently about prostitution/geisha work than the original poster, I believe.