So my copy of British Journal of Politics and International Relations drops through my door this morning and I shove it in my bag on the way out the door and forget about it until I get home. Off comes the plastic wrapper, and there in the back cover is a review by Christina Rowley from Briston University of, of all things, Firefly and Serenity. The article is entitled “Firefly/Serenity: Gendered Space and Gendered Bodies” and it isn’t particularly good (being a quick run through the female characters of Firefly explaining how they’re challenging gender stereotypes backed up with a very brief look at the use of violence in the show. The conclusion being that while Firefly’s gendering of its characters is atypical of media stereotyping there remain problems (Inara’s still a prostitute, no matter how high falutin’,  Kaylee’s still mooning over a doctor, even is she is a competent engineer with a sexuality of her own, etc.) - which is hardly startling.

Still, despite my reservations about the article itself, it was a pleasant surprise to see sf discussed seriously in a political journal without a single “as others see us” moment.