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The War on Science Fiction was an outbreak of Gender wank which occurred in science fiction fandom in October 2009.

[edit] History

On October 9, 2009, a blogger by the name of Pro-male/Anti-feminist Tech posted an entry at The Spearhead entitled "The War on Science Fiction and Marvin Minsky". The posting claimed that science fiction was traditionally a "very male form of fiction" and bemoaned the increasing presence of women in the field and the supposed "feminizing" of the genre. Popular writer Joss Whedon was singled out as a "mangina", the reimagined version of Battlestar Galactica was criticized for "castrating" male characters, and the presence of women in science fiction was also blamed for discouraging men from entering scientific fields as they had in the past. The article also pointed fingers at Dr. Who and Torchwood for the character of Captain Jack Harkness as an "omnisexual".

By October 12, the blog was beginning to be noticed and commented upon by others in professional writing circuits as well as media fandom on LiveJournal, seemingly leading to another round of Fail debates and kerfluffling.

[edit] Related links

[edit] By date

[edit] October 9, 2009

• The War of Science Fiction and Marvin Minsky: Pro-male/Anti-feminist Tech on October 9, 2009
• The emasculation of science fiction: Opus131 on October 9, 2009

[edit] October 10, 2009

• Is Science Fiction Becoming 'Feminized'?: John DeNardo on October 10, 2009

[edit] October 12, 2009

• I Am Woman, See Me Ruin Science Fiction: Rhonda Eudaly on October 12, 2009
• here, have some fail: rm on October 12, 2009
• Women, Gays Apparently Ruining Sci-Fi For the Rest of Us: Paul Constant on October 12, 2009
• Wherein I Write Too Much Text: Ruthanne Reid on October 12, 2009
• Your Daily Dose Of Dumbfail: padparadscha on October 12, 2009
• Boys' Mere Fancy.: conformer on October 12, 2009
• Sexism in Science Fiction: ysabetwordsmith on October 12, 2009
• OMG GIRL COOTIES!: alan_yee on October 12, 2009

[edit] October 13, 2009

• Women Ruin Sci Fi For Men: evildrem on October 13, 2009
• OH NOES THEY BE TAKIN MAH SYFY BUKKIT: lanning on October 13, 2009
• Ruining the Genre Since the age of 7 Years Old: eumelia on October 13, 2009
• A Boy’s Own Genre, or Not: John Scalzi on October 13, 2009
• untitled: J. Crew Guy in unfunnybusiness on October 13, 2009
• The War on Science Fiction and Infantile Assholes: Learn Hexadecimal on October 13, 2009
• How girls and gays are ruining teh scif-fi!: Christopher Fletcher on October 13, 2009
• Point and laugh.: Hugh Casey on October 13, 2009
• A cognent response: dremiel on October 13, 2009
• untitled: teenygozer on October 13, 2009
• war against science fiction? gosh golly.: mer-moon on October 13, 2009
• Yet another weaned-too-early nerdboy takes out his mommy issues on the world...: kingsgrave on October 13, 2009
• Yet another weaned-too-early nerdboy takes out his mommy issues on the world...: cluegirl on October 13, 2009
• Science Fiction and Cooties: Lauren Dane on October 13, 2009
• OMG The Vajayjays are killing SF!!!!!: blogenspiel on October 13, 2009
• Attack of the Mutant Cooties: steepholm on October 13, 2009
• manly sci-fi is dissappearing. O NOES D:: sam-bluesky on October 13, 2009
• The dangers of time travel: visiting the past vs. living there: Karen Wester Newton on October 13, 2009
• Cool story bro.: lookingforwater on October 13, 2009
• “I Remember When SF Was All About Straight Men Doing Stuff.”: geektheory on October 13, 2009
• I guess it might have started with Joss Whedon's Buffy....: lijability on October 13, 2009
• For the record, I am not sure which essay Scalzi is referring to here: James Nicoll on October 13, 2009
• I’m a Conscientious Objector in the War on Science Fiction: Shedrick Pittman-Hassett on October 13, 2009
• important stuff, and a rant fueled by my x-chromosomes: paperfruit on October 13, 2009
• Moronic relationship drama. IN SPACE!: the careless gene. on October 13, 2009
• I Didn’t Start The War on Science Fiction: Christian A. Young on October 13, 2009
• Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus: atsiko on October 13, 2009
• Quick hit: how are you ruining a perfectly good men-only geek interest today?: Mary on October 13, 2009
• The War on Critical Thinking and Evolving Social Mores: Candy on October 13, 2009
• Linkage is another form of attention: laughingrat on October 13, 2009
• And before I leave for the day...: meirwen on October 13, 2009
• Misogyny in the Age of Misandry: Keoni Galt on October 13, 2009
• Women (and gays!) are ruining science-fiction!: Post Punk Kitchen Forums on October 13, 2009
• just when i thought: Krys Brezinski on October 13, 2009
• Regarding the Haters: Actionless Activity on October 13, 2009
• “The War on Science Fiction”: A Rebuttle: coincidentalreality on October 13, 2009
• Can I get a "OH HELL NO"?: lama_mama and the ontd_startrek crowd on October 13, 2009

[edit] October 14, 2009

• The Link Report 14.10.09: Temple Library Reviews on October 14, 2009
• The War on Science Fiction and... Marvin Minsky?: Absolute Write forums on October 14, 2009
• Hmmm.: Andrew James Cooper on October 14, 2009
• Science-Fiction: No Girls Allow?: lebkin on October 14, 2009
• The Other Side of the Issue: atsiko on October 14, 2009
• My Vagina Killed Your Jetpack: Lisa Fary on October 14, 2009
• Links for October 12th through October 14th: eclecticism on October 14, 2009
• Женщины пришли и испортили всю научную фантастику: avrelia on femi_fan on October 14, 2009

[edit] October 17, 2009

• Sexism Rampant in Science Fiction Fandom: Bitch Spot on October 17, 2009

[edit] October 18, 2009

• Writing round: Wendy Palmer on October 18, 2009
• “How many heterosexual Doctor Who fans does it take to change a lightbulb? Both”: Richie on October 18, 2009

[edit] October 19, 2009

• Women and Sci Fi: Jennifer Roland on October 19, 2009
• The Feminization of Science Fiction (and Fantasy): Whiskey on October 19, 2009

[edit] October 22, 2009

• Don’t Ignore the Problem. Call it Out.: Zenbomb on October 22, 2009

[edit] By author

[edit] Absolute Write forums

• The War on Science Fiction and... Marvin Minsky?: Absolute Write forums on October 14, 2009

[edit] Actionless Activity

• Regarding the Haters: Actionless Activity on October 13, 2009

[edit] alan_yee

• OMG GIRL COOTIES!: alan_yee on October 12, 2009

[edit] Andrew James Cooper

• Hmmm.: Andrew James Cooper on October 14, 2009

[edit] atsiko

• Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus: atsiko on October 13, 2009
• The Other Side of the Issue: atsiko on October 14, 2009

[edit] avrelia

• Женщины пришли и испортили всю научную фантастику: avrelia on femi_fan on October 14, 2009

[edit] Bitch Spot

• Sexism Rampant in Science Fiction Fandom: Bitch Spot on October 17, 2009

[edit] blogenspiel

• OMG The Vajayjays are killing SF!!!!!: blogenspiel on October 13, 2009

[edit] Candy

• The War on Critical Thinking and Evolving Social Mores: Candy on October 13, 2009

[edit] the careless gene.

• Moronic relationship drama. IN SPACE!: the careless gene. on October 13, 2009

[edit] Chrisitan A. Young

• I Didn’t Start The War on Science Fiction: Christian A. Young on October 13, 2009

[edit] Christopher Fletcher

• How girls and gays are ruining teh scif-fi!: Christopher Fletcher on October 13, 2009

[edit] cluegirl

• Yet another weaned-too-early nerdboy takes out his mommy issues on the world...: cluegirl on October 13, 2009

[edit] coincidentalreality

• “The War on Science Fiction”: A Rebuttle: coincidentalreality on October 13, 2009

[edit] conformer

• Boys' Mere Fancy.: conformer on October 12, 2009

[edit] dremiel

• A cognent response: dremiel on October 13, 2009

[edit] eclecticism

• Links for October 12th through October 14th: eclecticism on October 14, 2009

[edit] eumelia

• Ruining the Genre Since the age of 7 Years Old: eumelia on October 13, 2009

[edit] evildrem

• Women Ruin Sci Fi For Men : evildrem on October 13, 2009

[edit] File 770

• SF Not Manly Enough?: File 770 on October 18, 2009

[edit] geektheory

• “I Remember When SF Was All About Straight Men Doing Stuff.”: geektheory on October 13, 2009

[edit] Hugh Casey

• Point and laugh.: Hugh Casey on October 13, 2009

[edit] James Nicoll

• For the record, I am not sure which essay Scalzi is referring to here: James Nicoll on October 13, 2009

[edit] J. Crew Guy

• untitled: J. Crew Guy in unfunnybusiness on October 13, 2009

[edit] Jennifer Roland

• Women and Sci Fi: Jennifer Roland on October 19, 2009

[edit] John DeNardo

• Is Science Fiction Becoming 'Feminized'?: John DeNardo on October 10, 2009

[edit] John Scalzi

• A Boy’s Own Genre, or Not: John Scalzi on October 13, 2009

[edit] Karen Wester Newton

• The dangers of time travel: visiting the past vs. living there: Karen Wester Newton on October 13, 2009

[edit] Keoni Galt

• Misogyny in the Age of Misandry: Keoni Galt on October 13, 2009

[edit] Krys Brezinski

• just when i thought: Krys Brezinski on October 13, 2009

[edit] kinsgrave

• Yet another weaned-too-early nerdboy takes out his mommy issues on the world...: kingsgrave on October 13, 2009

[edit] lanning

• OH NOES THEY BE TAKIN MAH SYFY BUKKIT: lanning on October 13, 2009

[edit] laughingrat

• Linkage is another form of attention: laughingrat on October 13, 2009

[edit] Lauren Dane

• Science Fiction and Cooties: Lauren Dane on October 13, 2009

[edit] Learn Hexadecimal

• The War on Science Fiction and Infantile Assholes: Learn Hexadecimal on October 13, 2009

[edit] lebkin

• Science-Fiction: No Girls Allow?: lebkin on October 14, 2009

[edit] lijability

• I guess it might have started with Joss Whedon's Buffy....: lijability on October 13, 2009

[edit] Lisa Fary

• My Vagina Killed Your Jetpack: Lisa Fary on October 14, 2009

[edit] Lookingforwater

• Cool story bro.: lookingforwater on October 13, 2009

[edit] Mary

• Quick hit: how are you ruining a perfectly good men-only geek interest today?: Mary on October 13, 2009

[edit] meirwen

• And before I leave for the day...: meiwen on October 13, 2009

[edit] mer-moon

• war against science fiction? gosh golly.: mer-moon on October 13, 2009

[edit] Opus131

• The emasculation of science fiction: Opus131 on October 9, 2009

[edit] padparadscha

• Your Daily Dose Of Dumbfail: padparadscha on October 12, 2009

[edit] paperfruit

Shedrick Pittman-Hassett on October 13, 2009

• important stuff, and a rant fueled by my x-chromosomes: paperfruit on October 13, 2009

[edit] Paul Constant

• Women, Gays Apparently Ruining Sci-Fi For the Rest of Us: Paul Constant on October 12, 2009

[edit] Post Punk Kitchen Forums

• Women (and gays!) are ruining science-fiction!: Post Punk Kitchen Forums on October 13, 2009

[edit] Pro-male/Anti-feminist Tech

• The War of Science Fiction and Marvin Minsky: Pro-male/Anti-feminist Tech on October 9, 2009

[edit] Rhonda Eudaly

• I Am Woman, See Me Ruin Science Fiction: Rhonda Eudaly on October 12, 2009

[edit] Richie

• “How many heterosexual Doctor Who fans does it take to change a lightbulb? Both”: Richie on October 18, 2009

[edit] rm

• here, have some fail: rm on October 12, 2009

[edit] Ruthanne Reid

• Wherein I Write Too Much Text: Ruthanne Reid on October 12, 2009

[edit] sam-bluesky

• manly sci-fi is dissappearing. O NOES D:: sam-bluesky on October 13, 2009

[edit] Shedrick Pittman-Hassett

• I’m a Conscientious Objector in the War on Science Fiction: Shedrick Pittman-Hassett on October 13, 2009

[edit] steepholm

• Attack of the Mutant Cooties: steepholm on October 13, 2009

[edit] teenygozer

• untitled: teenygozer on October 13, 2009

[edit] Temple Library Reviews

• The Link Report 14.10.09: Temple Library Reviews on October 14, 2009

[edit] Wendy Palmer

• Writing round: Wendy on October 18, 2009

[edit] Whiskey

• The Feminization of Science Fiction (and Fantasy): Whiskey on October 19, 2009

[edit] ysabetwordsmith

• Sexism in Science Fiction: ysabetwordsmith on October 12, 2009

[edit] Zenbomb

• Don’t Ignore the Problem. Call it Out.: Zenbomb on October 22, 2009

[edit] See also

• Gender wank
• Fail