Female characters of Star Wars

I'm writing a college paper about femininity in science fiction and I'm interested in hearing what people think about how female characters of Star Wars are portrayed. Do you think that characters who display traditionally feminine characteristics such as a nurturing attitude are more popular? Less popular? Or rather, do you think that the characters who are more aggressive are more or less popular? I'd love to hear anything anyone has to say on the topic, either in post or through e-mail.

 

I'll type something up later tonight.

 

Oh thank you God...I've been waiting for years for something like this to get on the forums *kisses the lady's hand repeatibly* merci for making it.

1. Do you think that characters who display traditionally feminine characteristics such as a nurturing attitude are more popular?Less popular? Or rather, do you think that the characters who are more aggressive are more or less popular? I'd love to hear anything anyone has to say on the topic, either in post or through e-mail.

"Nuturing" females in Star Wars for the most part seem very rare. Because it's an action oreintated series the majority of characters which have a "nuturing/maternal/feminine" characteristics for the most part are treated as nonentities.

We have the Evil Icequeen (Admiral Daala, Isard), Bad girl (Tavira, Akkanah), Tomboy (the Princess from Rogue Squadron, Bria Tharin, Leia to a certain point), and Femme Fatal (Mara, Mirith Synn)

But nuturing?

While Shmi and Beru are of extreme importance to the Star Wars mythos we barely hear anything out of them save with Anakin's tortured ramblings of a better life (a marked improvement over nonexistance nearly before). Worse characters who display nuturing attitudes (Mara and Leia as they grow into their roles as mothers) have been accused of losing their interesting aspects.

Nomi Sunrider however I hope is one of the most popular Star Wars women (at least in the EU) and is my favorite character personally. I was honestly UPSET when they portrayed her as abandoning her daughter Vima (who should be the most important person in her life) for politics and Jedi knighthood in the height of irony in the Redemption series.

Her gentleness, nuturing attitude, and love make her possibly one of the most wonderful Star Wars characters in print. So it's a bit of a mixed bag...

Rather like Rose Cotten and Arwen. Many Fantasy Fans find Eowyn the Warrior Princess a more attractive female and are annoyed she "settled" for Faramir who is an average joe as much as average joes can be princes and heroes. Yet essential was Rose Cotten and Arwen to the heroes finding peace and contentment and Arwen's sacrafice and actions are subtle but no less shaping of Middle Earth.

The essential thing to remember is that it is a very risky proposition to incoporate a nuturing female character into Star Wars because people might accuse the character of being weak instead of strong. Callista is certainly more nuturing and "feminine" than Mara Jade and well beloved by many for being a better role model but her traditionally femine characteristics made her less interesting to some readers and while still an extremely talented character and accomplished...

Many preferred Mara who was essentially one of the guys and in fact moreso than Luke in quite a few ways!

Furthermore Erisi vs. Mirax Terrick for the love of Corran Horn is an example of the Star Wars dictomoy. Mirax is a grease monkey and a smuggler who as portrayed comes off as a typical "daddy's girl" like in so many old movies. Erisi despite being in a bloodthirsty profession sacrafices none of her femminity or elegance and while it could also be construed as a "class conflict" Corran Horn goes with Mirax.

In any case nuturing characters seem to be a part of the Star Wars mythos but a fairly rare one.

Amidala and Mon Mothma are remarkable exceptions to the rule (Mon Mothma serves as a mother figure for most of her appearences-which usually involve nearly dying) and Amidala doesn't have any of Princess Leia's 'spunk' (a very good thing for diversity) but they are exceptions not the rule.

Over all I'd say that nuturing characters tend to be rarer in the Star Wars universe and while quite a few are VERY popular they have a lower average of appearence.

 

I would agree. The GFFA is very action-oriented, and so "regressive" or nurturing female characters are of either little importance or uninteresting. Obviously, I would say they are also unpopular.

On the other hand, although aggression is frowned upon, aggressive female characters are most interesting. As a result, I would say they are more popular.

 

I hope this makes sense and doesn't sound really stupid: I actually think (the old) Obi-Wan Kenobi is the most nurturing character in Star Wars. His style definitely contrasts with Yoda's "tough love" approach to training Luke. Just a thought, though he's not female.

 

The most nurturing character in GFFA has to be Winter. She was there for the Solo kids more than Han or Leia. In the Jedi Academy Trilogy, Winter had to forego her feelings for the twins and explain to them that Leia was their mother. Throughout the books, Winter actions epitomizes the balance between nurturing and loving but firm discipline. Winter can handle the challenges of being an accomplished agent and a nurturing surrogate mother.
I haven?t read if Winter and Tycho ever were married? Children?
When I was reflecting about Anakin dying, I thought of Winter and how much love she had for him.

 

I feel that the stronger females in general are prefered over the weaker or whatever. However, stronger may be morally or whatever. I personally find Winter and Mara to be the more interesting female roles. Winter interested me as she was said to have this great memory and it was interesting to see a major female role after Leia who may actually live through more than one book/ set of books (It seemed like Mara was just something of a Bond villain who would be killed off by the end of the series.) I think that the protrayal of females as Homer did in the Iliad were rather cheap. Bria Tharen was a bit like Helen or Hera as she was portrayed as deceptive. While she ws doing this for a good reason, I personally don't like that protrayal.

 

Yeah. Brea wasn't nice; she didn't have any qualms against hurting others to do what she felt was best for the Rebellion. I didn't like that; Leia is infinately better; she does the right thing. Period.

 

There's a very pointful comment there...

The association with nuturing and the like with "weak"

when in truth some of the strongest have been so entirely because of those traits. Nomi Sunrider's gentleness was not because she was weak but because she was in touch with her true inner goodness...

Only when tainted by war and suffering did she become weak(er).

Bria Tharin (Sp?) I think was an excellent writing by A.C. Crispen because she was exactly what Han was looking for in a woman IN HIS MIND but lived down every one of his expectations. It was heartbreaking to see Han idealize Bria to being a noble figure when in truth she was just as human as the rest...

I think it was intentional the kind of woman Han wanted Bria to be Leia turned out to be.

 

(applauds)

 

I have to disagree with Winter being the most nuturing. True, she was very nuturing to the children. But only when they were in her protection. And only because she was the one choosen to protect them. Chewie's wife could have been choosen to protect them, altough at that time she had a little one of her own to take care of. But if it had been her instead of Winter, then the arguement would be made that she was the most nuturing female character.

Once of age, especially today, I'd say we spend more time each year with our teachers at school than with our own parents. The arguement that Winter was more nuturing than the Solo children's own parents because she spent more time with them could then be used to suggest that our teachers are more nuturing than our own parents. But the fact is that our parents really have little choice but to send us to school. Yes, some can be home schooled, but most of them may have a tutor instead of a parent to teach them. But the point is that our parents have little choice in the matter of our going to school.

And that same fact held true for the Solos. They had little choice but to send their children away for the first two years of their life because Luke said they were at their most susceptible point where they could be corrupted by the dark side. So to protect them, they had to be sent where there were virtually no other living beings.

After they returned to live with their parents, it was actually Threepio who took care of them the most. Winter had merely been their guardian and nanny while on Anoth. Once they were no longer in her care, she returned to her own life. But Threepio became charged with their care for much of their lives. This would suggest that he is even more nuturing than Winter.

Yet Threepio tends to go over the top, and it's not surprising that anyone might want to get away from him. More over, Han spent even more time with the children than Leia, and while Threepio was still responsible for their care, Han was still with them as often as he could be. As was Chewie.

Threepio could be said to be programmed to be nuturing, but Han and Chewie would not be programmed. It would be more of a choice, though Chewie would often be put in charge of protecting the children. Even then, he looked on them like members of his family, just as Han looked on Chewie as not only his best friend and copilot, but a member of his family. And both Han and Chewie taught the children what they could and tried to help raise them as best as they could.

Winter spent time taking care of the Solo children. And she naturally grew attached to her charges. But that does not immediately mean that she's the most nuturing. Tionne may actually be the most nuturing. She always seems to be worried about the Jedi children. And she has always seemed to care about others, and to try and help them become the best person they could be. Plus she seems likely to make a fairly nice motherly figure.

 

On the whole, I think nurturing women are looked down upon in the EU. Actually, in the HST, it seemed to me that women who did not go out and save the universe (epitomized by Bria's mother) were frowned upon as weak, selfish, and rather stupid. Of course, we saw very few of these women, but this very lack was a statement. It meant that women who didn't do anything weren't exciting, weren't important to the story.

Which brings me to my next point- this is fiction, meant to entertain. Anything that doesn't further the plot in an action story is very likely to be boring, superfluous, and burdensome. However, as the question asked bypasses this issue, I will simply say that it is most likely that the "nurturing" women are probably not that popular because they are simply cameos, foils for the heroes and villains. If viewed in a mythological context, the lack of nurturers is explained by the fact that the hero's journey centers on the hero's quest. The people who taught the hero to be virtuous (or the villain to be villainous) may be mentioned, but only in passing. It is not their story.

I realise that I am now off the point. Oh, well.

 

Ditto about Charlemagne19's comment I guess. hile the others are off gallivanting (not quite... I don't really remember the series. JAT) around the galaxy or whatever, Winter was being a mother figure, even willing to risk her life for someone else's children. I Felt that Issard was a bad portrayal as once again, the eceptive thing, then it ends up that all she needed was a husband or whatever to become docile or whatever. Then Akahnah once again with the deceptive thing. Jaina I feel is a good characterization as she strong morally, she's intellegent, and she appears to be eqaul to the males of the story line, and maybe even superior. Then the arguement about characters who aren't important or are characterized poorly if they don't go and save the world, Winter was an example of one who wasn't characterized as particularily evil.

 

Others have picked apart the personality and role of the female charcters in the Star Wars universe but on a much shallower level its noticeable that nearly all the female characters in the Star Wars novels are described as beautiful or some other adjective along those lines, none are plain, non-descript, or even ugly.

 

A few characters have been described as such but that is a very good point...

* Belinda Kalenda

* The "Fat Dancer"

* Tionne (Exotic more than beautiful were Luke's words)

I think it has something to do with everyone wanting the inhabitants of Star Wars being superhuman.

 

Thank you, everybody, for your insightful posts; you've given me so much to think about. Initially, I'll admit, I was thinking about Mara and Callista as sort of opposite female ideals, one representative of a newer standard and the other of an older one (and for the record I like them both very much ). But you've all reminded me that not only are there many, many more examples of femininity that run the gamut in Star Wars, but that there are other issues about what constitutes femininity besides behavior. Thank you all so much, and if anyone else has comments, I'd still love to hear 'em.

 

Speaking for myself, and I hope everyone who posted before your thank you message, you're most welcome.