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Sex In Space or Sexism in Space?: Playboy and Virgin Galactic Partner to Create A Vision Of A Men's Space Club

Image credit: Thomas Tenery/Playboy Enterprises
I debated about whether to dignify this worthless garbage "news" by posting about it. At The Geek and Inkwell, I would much rather recommend and praise creative works or articles that I discover that contribute something meaningful and positive for the geek community, and hopefully for society at large. There is plenty of complaining and hate and anger on the internet, but I don't want my beloved readers always wading through such content when they come to The Geek and Inkwell. My vision for The Geek and Inkwell is inspired by the Inklings - I want it to be a place that peers gather to discuss things they love. To make a long story short, I waffled over bringing any attention to such a thing as a Playboy space station.

But then I realized - I can take this disparaging piece of news and use its power for good, not evil. For as many male chauvinists as there are out there, there have got to be a decent amount of men who would decry this potential partnership between Virgin Galactic and Playboy as a waste of both our technology and of space. My hope in eventually deciding to post on this proposed "heaven-in-the-heavens" (quote by Playboy editorial director Jimmy Jellinek...excuse me while I throw up...) was not to add to any notoriety this Playboy Club in space idea might have received already, but rather to give the enlightened, intelligent, equality-minded men and women who are among my readers the opportunity to prove the fact that not all men are a-okay with the idea of an endless party in space that objectifies women, offers the game of "human roulette" (whatever that means), or women servers walking around in a traditional Playboy outfit - only with a kitschy little jet pack added. I would wager - I really would - that the average thinking American feels that a Playboy Club in space is a shame. Toward the goal of space exploration and settlement lives have been sacrificed and some of science's greatest engineers have given greatly of their minds and abilities, and for what? So we could launch a raunchy party space station based on an archaic sexist mindset into the great beyond? I don't think so.

Okay, my friends - your turn.
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Comments

  1. Danielle2/25/12, 1:10 AM

    In some respects, isn't human-kind's desire to "journey to the great beyond" an attempt to leave all the mistakes behind and start-a-new with a clean slate (perhaps symbolically)? I for one know that no matter where we may journey *cough*run*cough* we will ALWAYS bring our problems with us. Why? Because the problem is US.

    It is disheartening to me that as a culture not only are we willing to tolerate sex slavery and industry, but we are perpetuating it and literally spreading it outside of our world. Although I am an advocate for women who have been sexually victimized and survivors of such lifestyles, I use the term "we/us" because I can't separate/distance myself or disown this issue. I am also a broken piece in this giant puzzle.

    Whether or not this will actually manifest remains to be seen, however I do think it's a prime example of what humanity values.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. M.E. Davis2/25/12, 1:49 PM

      I agree with both your points - there is a plethora of science fiction literature, games, comics, you-name-it out there that imagines humanity starting fresh on another planet or adrift in space, but we bring our dark side with us. You're also right in stating that even a woman who is not directly involved in the sex industry or in sex slavery must still confront this issue, because apparently, this is still the way the media sees women. After reading the article, my thought process was: "Okay, it's 2012 and this is still how you think about women? Still?" It just seemed like all our progress as a species was mocked by this joint project by Playboy and V.G.

      Delete
  2. debbi2/25/12, 9:38 AM

    Your take on this, Michelle, is right on. What a waste and a show of disrespect to those whose lives were dedicated and lost to the serious science of space exploration. The gift of our beautiful universe was meant to be discovered and understood and never used so selfishly, for such twisted means. It is evidence, as Danielle points out, for a long-standing problem with humanity. We are all broken pieces in a giant, yet-to-be-redeemed puzzle. That means Mr. Hefner is broken and Virgin Atlantic leadership, as well. Problem is, they are unaware of their decidedly selfish (for sex and for money) deceived worldview.

    ReplyDelete

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