Aliens and sexism (maybe)....

[nchurch81]

I'm just curious about something.  I've seen a lot of fans desperately wanting there to be an alien "king" introduced into the aliens series.  Some want this to be a creature that can over power and dominate the queen.  Why is this?  I'm wondering if some men, specifically, don't like that idea that the aliens are run by females and the males seem to play no role.  Are some men intimidated by this concept?  Why is there a desire to "masculinize" (makin' up a word, but i hope you get what I mean) the aliens?  Why do some fans thing there needs to be a "man" in charge as far as the aliens are concerned? 

I'm not really take a stance either way, I'm sure curious about peoples thoughts on the matter.

[SM]

*Rifles through 'hoary old chestnut' database*

Aliens have no king; Aliens need no king.



Honestly I think it's just down to some fans wanting to see something 'bigger and more badassawesome' than a Queen.  Don't really think there's any misogyny involved.

[nchurch81]

That's also a fair assumption.  But it's kind of intriguing to think about.  That there be male fans out there intimidated by the fact that the aliens world is a female centric one.  Too bad there aren't any alien fans/psychologists out there to chime in on the subject.

[SM]

Well the first film did have all that rape/ violation thing going on with Kane being 'knocked up' and Brett and Parker having phallic objects violently ripping their brains out.  Could be something subconscious with some male fans.

Possibly. 

[nchurch81]

True.  There is a lot of psycho-sexual undertones in the first film.    And you have armies of these phallic head monsters being dominated over powerful female figure in Aliens.

I guess to figure it out, we would have to figure out what kind of people generally become Aliens fans. (which is altogether another potentially fascinating topic of discussion).

[Weasel]

Well they are very likened to 'bees/ants' which focus on a queen rather than a 'king'.

[Russian_Predator]

Prove that queen of Aliens is she, prove that facehugger or drone is he...
Where is sexism at Aliens? 

[SM]

Just the typical sexism you find in Cameron films of women needing to be empowered by men.

[nchurch81]

Gonna have to clarify that last statement I'm afraid, Russian_Predator.

I'm not talking about that series as it is at the moment.  I'm talking about how some fans are hooked on the idea of introducing a superior "king" or male figure into the aliens mythos.  The question is, where does that desire come from? Are some male fans intimidated by the matriarchal set up of the alien hive? Does having a female controlled system make some of the fans uneasy?

[SM]

To say nothing of the good guys being controlled by a woman too.  And the antagonist humans all being men too - Ash, Gorman, Burke, Andrews, Aaron, Bishop II, Wren, Gedimen, etc.

[nchurch81]

This is also a good point.  I've certainly noticed animosity toward not only the character Ripley but toward Sigourney Weaver herself.  Fans want to do away with Ripley.  And there's a huge focus on bring the uber-masculine colonial marines into the central focus of the Aliens franchise.  It would seem that there are fans out there that want put definitely "manly" elements behind the steering wheel of both the protagonist and antagonistic sides of the franchise.

[gameoverman]

What about Empress aliens?  Are they meant to be uber-queens or something? 

I don't want to see a King Alien, but something like a praetorian (queen's guards or young queens) would be fine for me.

[darcevil]

As far as we know aliens don't have a "gender" per se. It might just be an expression used to describe an alien spices with no common ancestor to ours.

The term "queen" might be a reference to that it's the head honcho, not it's gender. You people take things way to literally.

[gameoverman]

As far as we know aliens don't have a "gender" per se. It might just be an expression used to describe an alien spices with no common ancestor to ours.

The term "queen" might be a reference to that it's the head honcho, not it's gender. You people take things way to literally.

The Queen is female, but all the drones have no gender.

[Eidotemit]

For some people who want a king, and I'm not sure who those people are but w/e, some of it may have to do with a sense of male superiority. Either way the "king" concept and at least TPTB have the sense not to put one in a film...


I could very well do a psych analysis of this, but frankly don't care enough to. You're basic answer is: yes, to some degree in some cases.