Science Wars through the Stargate by Gil Steven;

Author:Gil, Steven;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

The more awkward and nerdish Carter from “Moebius, Pt. 1.”

Military status actually offers another level of distinction and this extends beyond the visual, also impacting her representation as a scientist. That professional vocation counterbalances depictions of the scientist as physically incapable and weak. Referring to the portrayal of Carter as a capable hand-to-hand combatant, Tuszynski observes how “common conceptions of ‘geeks’ often portray them as intelligent but physically weak and unable to fight. Carter, as an Air Force officer, cannot be this way, and simply being proficient with weapons . . . is not enough for a woman in a field unit.”[32] This typical association of intellectual ability with physical infirmity sheds light on O’Neill’s final comments to Carter in her introductory scene. Once he is told by Hammond that the assignment of Carter is non-optional she reassures him, saying, “I’m an Air Force officer just like you are colonel. And just because my reproductive organs are on the inside instead of the outside, doesn’t mean I can’t handle whatever you can handle.”[33] Distancing his issue from Carter’s gender, O’Neill replies, “Oh this has nothing to do with you being a woman. I like women. I’ve just got a little problem with scientists.” This problem with scientists may be said to stem from the view of them as not fit for the essentially military endeavors that O’Neill and his team must undertake. Carter’s final assertion indicates that this is how she interprets that statement: “Colonel, I logged over a hundred hours in enemy airspace during the Gulf War. Is that tough enough for you? Or are we going to have to arm wrestle?” Further support for this reading of O’Neill’s “problem with scientists” can be found in the comments about Jackson that he makes earlier in the episode. When discussing the previous mission to Abydos with O’Neill, Hammond asks, “You didn’t like Daniel Jackson did you?” To which O’Neill replies, “Daniel was a scientist. He sneezed a lot. Basically, he was a geek, sir.” Greater detail about Jackson will come in a later section. What is noteworthy, though, is that the problem with scientists is certainly related to the view that they are poorly suited to the physically demanding military assignment, and not reflective of any issue with science. Here we are dealing with a view that derives directly from stereotypes.

Through her clothing, dialogue, and behavior, Carter is framed as existing within a social setting—the military. As such, she is not an outsider despite the distinction of her being a scientist. That positioning is significant to the Science Wars, as Stanley Aronowitz comments that the “claim of science to social neutrality is subject to increasing incredulity since the veritable subsumption, after 1938, of much of U.S. natural science (physics, chemistry, and biology) under the military.”[34] Many of the Earth-based scientists depicted in SG-1 similarly work for the US military. Carter goes a step further than many of the other scientists by actually being an Air Force officer. This means that she is subject to military formality and rules much more so than some others.

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