Lapidos is attacking BSG for something that was never there, for the purposes - or so it seems to me - of proving outwronged by the work. Why?

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1. Battlestar is a fundamentally partriarchal universe. Yes women and men occupy similar positions of power. But again and again women and NOT men are responsible for bringing desctruction and chaos to the Battlestar universe. Ie: Starbuck is the harbinger of doom. As Annalee wrote, Adama held up the fleet to wait for Starbuck to try to find Earth. Adama potentially endangered the fleet due to his love for a woman, Starbuck. And when we get to Earth...we get a wasteland. Adama allowed people to stay on New Caprica despite his own instinct that the position was unsafe. Why? Because he loved Roslin and she was determined to stay. A 6 began the war with humans in the first place by using Baltar to get records on Caprica. Who steals Herra? A female, Boomer. Who seduced Helo in the first place to produce Herra? Athen.

2. And what about Baltar? He's helps to bring chaos to the Battlestar Universe too! He's a man! I would also argue that he is played as a fop. He's tiny compared to the other charactrs, he is the only main character who uses his native foreign accent, for most of the series he was the only male with long hair. He is feminized. And part of being a feminine character is being destructive. Leoben is also destructive , but I would argue that everything he does to disrupt the BSG universe is due to his obsession with Starbuck. A women.

3. And what about Cain? Isn't it interesting that the most bloodthirsty and torture happy female character is a LESBIAN?! Now, one could argue she is coded as butch. Shouldn't her actions align with the male characters then? But as a lesbian, who does not have sexual desires for men, she is even more feminine. She is seperate from men. Ultimatly female. Much more destructive. Razor is one long story about the awful things that women are capable of.

I heart BSG. I am devestated that it is ending. But I noticed such a strong trend I had to get all academic about it. I agree that this patriarchal undertone is completely inadvertent. But it's still there.

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But the aside about sexual violence being "directed only at women" is compelling, too. Men are not immune to sexual violence and people are not ignorant of that, as men who have been victims of torture can tell you. It's commonplace. Yet on BSG, it's nonexistent.

Baltar's torture at Three's hands is a good example: they have the setup correct, right down to the electrodes. But where does Three, that sadistic product of a reproduction-obsessed culture, attach the electrodes? Baltar's fingers. Yeah, right.

Then there is the ménage à trois, which I really doubt is among the CIA's "enhanced interrogation techniques." I suppose you can argue that it's "torture," but you can't say it's realistic.

To me, that illustrates the sexism of the writers: they're willing to inflict the full range of violence upon their female characters, but in the case of their male characters, they hold back.

So in BSG, it's really not true that "When you dehumanize a male, you simply beat him any way you can." You beat him in every way except one.

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Having all the characters showing themselves to be unlikeable failures at one time or another is a feature in my book.

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One of the things I like so much about this incarnation of BSG is the equal opportunity weakness of every single character. In that way, yes, it is post-feminist, while being infected here and there with current social norms/fetishes.

Loved it.

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I'm a black male. I could easily go on a rant about how the two black male characters (Tigh and Boomer) from the original were changed and the one black male we see on the new BSG is a cylon. But it's just a show and I have better things to worry about.

Finally, don't diss slave girl Leia.

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It's also somewhat disingenuous to suggest Baltar was always without clothes on the baseship. Caprica-Six bringing him fresh clothes was an instrumental scene in suggesting her lingering feelings for him. I don't remember anything from the baseship scenes that really suggested Baltar was ever an unwilling participant in any sexual activity. A stronger case could probably be made for New Caprica, where Baltar was literally unable to respond to Caprica-Six, and their relationship was more forced by her.

That being said, Lapidos' quoted arguments also aren't very convincing. We see female Cylon's births onscreen because, for the most part, we care more about them than we do the male Cylons, who are all much more minor characters. And to suggest the show drops in rape "without comment" is frankly just not true. The show does have its hiccups, but those two arguments seem for the former like stretching it and the latter like deliberately ignoring the show.

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I like Slate. I usually find it to be much more reasonable and less hysterical than most of the press. This piece, however, was just a load of PC BS. All she does is point out that the women are portrayed as weak while ignoring that the men are no stronger - true equality. You made your point much better than Ms Lapidos did.

At the end she even goes out of her way to point out that there is only one Asian on the show. What does that have to do with chauvinism?

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