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The Sexy Dystopia

Women and sex work in sci-fi and fantasy.

By Soph PricePublished 7 years ago 4 min read
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I want to start this off by saying I am passionate about supporting indie comics and publications, so after reading this I urge you all to try and get hold of a copy of Metal Made Flesh. The art is truly phenomenal and the story possesses some very interesting concepts and a ground shaking plot twist in the middle that I did not at allsee coming.

But with that set-aside, I want to focus in on something else. When I picked up a copy of the first volume of Metal Made Flesh at London MCM Comic Con in May, I was entranced by the gorgeous cyberpunk artwork depicting a rich alien world where "Survival Is Everything". But just three pages in, I could already feel my hopes beginning to fade. I realised that Metal Made Flesh was going to play into a trope; an over-baked, overused, tiring trope that is rampant in sci-fi and fantasy.

Why are all the women sex workers?

Now don't get me wrong, when I say all I do not mean each and every one. But a handful of exceptions to this trope is not enough when it is so pervasive. It is everywhere in fantasy and sci-fi, from Game of Thrones to Blade Runner. Sin City. Repo! The Genetic Opera. The original comic of V for Vendetta. In hostile fantasy worlds, men become assassins and mercenaries, thieves, pimps, dealers, sellswords and warriors as a means of survival. And women become prostitutes.

I confess I was very disappointed in reading Metal Made Flesh when the first mention of a woman was not even a mention of a woman herself; rather the protagonist looking forward to purchasing some "Tuaonian pussy." As a female reader, it made me feel a certain kind of discomfort. And it only got worse from there.

The first real women we meet are two nameless "hookers", who stick around for a couple of sentences in which Prince Tanim watches them leave and "congratulate[s] himself on his superior taste". The next two women to be introduced are at least given names this time - Tigua and Parois - but no dialogue. Just two lines of description each, painting them as "beautiful but vapid" and "a promiscuous wife" in turn, after which they are never seen again.

At this point, I was not only disappointed but also confused. The blurb and back cover art had promised a female protagonist in the form of Izobel Vice - but where was she?

Finally, 99 pages in, she appeared.

A cybernetic sniper assassin. Strong, calculating and capable. I was immediately intrigued and eager to learn more about her. And then, three pages later, we learn about her past.

Lo and behold, she used to be involved in sex work.

By this point, I was utterly exasperated.

Now, I would like to clarify here that I see no shame in sex work. My criticism itself is of the pervasiveness of the trope in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. Why is it so commonplace?

The answer is, to put it bluntly, lazy writing. When creating a dystopia, you are creating a future that is bleak, dirty, and devoid of hope. Humanity on the brink of extinction, doing whatever it takes to survive. And so, when it comes to thinking in stereotypes...what is the most degrading, desperate, last resort career path a woman can take?

Metal Made Flesh is set in a future in which humanity has been driven to near extinction across the galaxy and found refuge in the destitute, seedy world of Tuaoni. Humankind is considered to be the lowest of the low, a scourge on the planet. So to me, it stands that all humans would receive the same level of contempt and ill-treatment, regardless of gender. It makes little sense to me that women would have to experience degradation just that slight degree more than men.

The important thing here I want to say here is that this trope can be challenged. There are other ways, there are better ways. You can create a dark and intoxicating fantasy world without having to throw women under the bus and tar them with the same sexualised brush over and over. There is a much richer story to tell in a world where this trope is not simply twisted but directly challenged. Hulu's chilling adaption of The Handmaid's Tale constructs a horrifying world in which fertile women are used only for their bodies; as vessels to bear children. It warns of the dangers of female body policing and tells the story from the perspective of the women themselves, giving handmaid Offred a powerful voice. And of course, the definitive Mad Max: Fury Road, where Furiosa liberates the breeding wives of the tyrannical Immortan Joe and spirits them across the Australian wasteland in a high octane race to freedom.

I think to end this piece on the topic of Mad Max: Fury Road is a good way to go out on a high note. To summarise: the apocalypse needs a few more Furiosa's in place of nameless background hookers. And to quote the important, empowering motto of the Immortan's wives:

"We are not things."

Metal Made Flesh

My signed copy of Metal Made Flesh

Metal Made Flesh was created by Simeon Aston and Jeremy Biggs and you can learn more about it at www.metalmadeflesh.com

artcomicshumanityreviewsteampunk
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About the Creator

Soph Price

Writer, film grad, passionate geek.

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