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Another bit of fanon that I see all over the damn place is that Rodney is a male chauvinist, or behaves like one even if he doesn't actually believe it, i.e. implying or outright stating to female coworkers/underlings/marines that they'd do their jobs better if they didn't have ovaries. This is especially annoying in genderswap fic.
I'd like to know where this idea comes from. He has no problem whatsoever with Elizabeth as leader, or Teyla as diplomat, trader and warrior. He has singled out female scientists for accolade when they were particularly brilliant or efficient ("the lovely and talented [and doomed] Dumais" in Hot Zone, frex).
Really, this one merits exploring. Let me see if I can try to see where the idea comes from. (Examples include spoilers to the end of season 3 but not beyond, since I've only seen to the end of Vengeance.)
Okay, start at the beginning, with Sam. Yes, he was an ass when they first met, but at the time he was still a hardcore theoretical physicist with a real bug up his butt for proper scientific procedure (you will recall Elizabeth pointing out this one, in the episode Hide and Seek, I think it was). He points out that Sam guesses most of the time. In later episodes (Grace Under Pressure mentions it, I believe) he confesses that he was/is jealous of her intuitive grasp of the workings of the Stargate, etc. He also calls her a dumb blonde, but given that their relationship develops into a sort of oneupmanship thing as time goes by, and that he was frustrated with what he saw as stupidity on her part, I think he was just being an ass. Yes, he's attracted to her, and yes he constantly says he's more intelligent than her -- but never once does he say that it's because she's a woman. (At least, not in the main continuity. It wouldn't surprise me in Moebius, where he's very ass-grabby.)
McKay hates Chaya before he ever sees her. This has nothing to do with her gender, but rather begins with his instinctive realisation that there's something going on with her planet that doesn't add up, and let us not forget the way the military leader of Atlantis immediately fell under her spell. He's hostile and jealous throughout the episode. He's also right. She's lying to them, she's not what she says, she has no intention of helping them, and she's basically an Ascended criminal, by the fucked up rules the Ascended have. Also, she doesn't much like him. I doubt he'd have felt any different if she'd been a male, except for potentially even more concern over John's infatuation, given that whole "American military" thing.
Next, Allina. Who? That woman in The Brotherhood, the smart one with the hots for Rodney. He has no problem working with her and in fact seems really pleased to find a culture with at least Renaissance-era tech and someone as smart as her. If they'd been dealing with actual technology, I think he would have gotten frustrated at her lack of knowledge, but as it was they were researching with books and maps and solving a mystery and digging for stuff. He's pretty positive about her, actually, for a number of reasons: she's helping them look for a ZPM, she's giving him access to all the information she can find about it and her own considerable expertise with the materials, her culture has managed to hold onto books and knowledge to a fairly impressive degree when compared to the planet with the children, she's a hell of a lot nicer than the Genii, and she never expresses doubt that he's as brilliant as he says he is. She's also pretty, and he's attracted to her whilst being completely oblivious that she's attracted back. Look at them working together in the field: it's obvious he likes her and that's why he's kind of showing off his brain, but he's actually a lot nicer to her than he is to equivalent male characters in other episodes -- and I think that has a lot to do with how nice she is to him. Of course, then she betrays them and takes back the ZPM on religious grounds, which makes him make the confused/hurt face. Poor guy.
Moving on, we have Cadman, whom we first meet in Duet and see again in Critical Mass. Cadman and McKay do not get along. He's really not happy to have her in his brain, and she's not especially pleased to be there. When it's suggested to him that this is a wonderful opportunity to learn how a woman thinks, he replies that he doesn't want to know. His problem with Cadman has nothing to do with her gender so much as her personality, attitude, monopolizing of his friend's time (her thing with Carson) and let us not forget the whole taking control of his body and one of them is going to die things. She's willing to let him have his body back, but fortunately they manage to save them both. If he could have forgiven her for making him kiss Carson or scuttling his date with Katie, he might have been okay with her at this point. Obviously, things don't remain friendly considering his distrust of her in Critical Mass*, but again, at no point does his issue with her have anything to do with him denigrating her for her sex.
I'm only going to touch briefly on Dr. Norina Pero, because I'm still boggling at the really weird behaviour Sheppard had going on in Inferno. McKay is attracted to her, which is unsurprising considering she's a) intelligent, b) blonde, and c) dressed like a porn star pretending to be a librarian. Seriously, she's a dish and she wants him to teach her stuff. Unfortunately he keeps getting distracted from that by discovering how her planet is about to kill them all and trying to save them all. Look, if every instance of a man acting like a dork because he's attracted to a woman is counted as male chauvinism, then 90% of men are guilty. It's an invalid proof, if that's what you're using. That's not misogyny, it's hormones.
Jean Miller is probably one of the most important woman to consider here. Yes, they have a somewhat combative relationship, but they are siblings, and what's more they're genius siblings whose parents seem to have put a lot of emphasis on academic achievement. Yes, McKay thought she was making a huge mistake to give up her scientific career to raise her daughter -- but I know women who watch the show who think she made a mistake, mostly in an offended feminist "What the hell was that? She can't have a kid and a career?" way. (Although considering the lecture on "everything that's wrong with science today" that she gives to Rodney while she keeps him on her front step, I think it's safe to say it wasn't just the kid that had her deciding to give up academia.) Really, I could write about Jeannie all day, but for this entry's purposes, it's sufficient to point out that most of their friction comes from their familial relationship and sibling rivalry, and once again at no point does he say or imply that her gender has any impact on her intelligence or capability.
Like I said above (way, way above) Rodney has no difficulty whatsoever accepting Teyla or Elizabeth in their roles. He challenges Elizabeth just as much as he would any leader who he likes and mostly thinks is doing a good job. He's occasionally a pain but... he's McKay "He's occasionally a pain" is a general truism. He considers her his friend, and he'll argue with her when he thinks she's wrong, but he'd do that with anyone. Her gender is not an issue -- she's his friend, and his leader. He respects her. (Post-watching First Strike (Part 1) He's willing to back her up without prompting -- when Col. Ellis tries to assume control of Atlantis, he laughs at him and tells him it's not his call, then looks to Elizabeth for her decision.)
Similarly, he has no difficulty accepting Teyla as a member of his team, as a warrior, as the leader of her people. This would be because he's not stupid or blind. He has difficulty connecting with her in many ways, I think, because they are from such different backgrounds, but he likes her, and she likes him. He treats her as an equal.
In conclusion, I have NO FUCKING CLUE where this "male chauvinist" thing comes from. Seriously.
*I think he was overreacting, but look at it this way: she just did a mysterious (to him) about-face on the subject of leaving, she's an explosive expert, and she may potentially have retained enough knowledge about the intimate workings of Atlantis as perceived by Rodney to effectively place bombs and muck with the computer systems. And she's really kind of abrasive. I mean, she's friendly in a snarky very jock kind of way, and when has that ever gone over well with McKay?
I'd like to know where this idea comes from. He has no problem whatsoever with Elizabeth as leader, or Teyla as diplomat, trader and warrior. He has singled out female scientists for accolade when they were particularly brilliant or efficient ("the lovely and talented [and doomed] Dumais" in Hot Zone, frex).
Really, this one merits exploring. Let me see if I can try to see where the idea comes from. (Examples include spoilers to the end of season 3 but not beyond, since I've only seen to the end of Vengeance.)
Okay, start at the beginning, with Sam. Yes, he was an ass when they first met, but at the time he was still a hardcore theoretical physicist with a real bug up his butt for proper scientific procedure (you will recall Elizabeth pointing out this one, in the episode Hide and Seek, I think it was). He points out that Sam guesses most of the time. In later episodes (Grace Under Pressure mentions it, I believe) he confesses that he was/is jealous of her intuitive grasp of the workings of the Stargate, etc. He also calls her a dumb blonde, but given that their relationship develops into a sort of oneupmanship thing as time goes by, and that he was frustrated with what he saw as stupidity on her part, I think he was just being an ass. Yes, he's attracted to her, and yes he constantly says he's more intelligent than her -- but never once does he say that it's because she's a woman. (At least, not in the main continuity. It wouldn't surprise me in Moebius, where he's very ass-grabby.)
McKay hates Chaya before he ever sees her. This has nothing to do with her gender, but rather begins with his instinctive realisation that there's something going on with her planet that doesn't add up, and let us not forget the way the military leader of Atlantis immediately fell under her spell. He's hostile and jealous throughout the episode. He's also right. She's lying to them, she's not what she says, she has no intention of helping them, and she's basically an Ascended criminal, by the fucked up rules the Ascended have. Also, she doesn't much like him. I doubt he'd have felt any different if she'd been a male, except for potentially even more concern over John's infatuation, given that whole "American military" thing.
Next, Allina. Who? That woman in The Brotherhood, the smart one with the hots for Rodney. He has no problem working with her and in fact seems really pleased to find a culture with at least Renaissance-era tech and someone as smart as her. If they'd been dealing with actual technology, I think he would have gotten frustrated at her lack of knowledge, but as it was they were researching with books and maps and solving a mystery and digging for stuff. He's pretty positive about her, actually, for a number of reasons: she's helping them look for a ZPM, she's giving him access to all the information she can find about it and her own considerable expertise with the materials, her culture has managed to hold onto books and knowledge to a fairly impressive degree when compared to the planet with the children, she's a hell of a lot nicer than the Genii, and she never expresses doubt that he's as brilliant as he says he is. She's also pretty, and he's attracted to her whilst being completely oblivious that she's attracted back. Look at them working together in the field: it's obvious he likes her and that's why he's kind of showing off his brain, but he's actually a lot nicer to her than he is to equivalent male characters in other episodes -- and I think that has a lot to do with how nice she is to him. Of course, then she betrays them and takes back the ZPM on religious grounds, which makes him make the confused/hurt face. Poor guy.
Moving on, we have Cadman, whom we first meet in Duet and see again in Critical Mass. Cadman and McKay do not get along. He's really not happy to have her in his brain, and she's not especially pleased to be there. When it's suggested to him that this is a wonderful opportunity to learn how a woman thinks, he replies that he doesn't want to know. His problem with Cadman has nothing to do with her gender so much as her personality, attitude, monopolizing of his friend's time (her thing with Carson) and let us not forget the whole taking control of his body and one of them is going to die things. She's willing to let him have his body back, but fortunately they manage to save them both. If he could have forgiven her for making him kiss Carson or scuttling his date with Katie, he might have been okay with her at this point. Obviously, things don't remain friendly considering his distrust of her in Critical Mass*, but again, at no point does his issue with her have anything to do with him denigrating her for her sex.
I'm only going to touch briefly on Dr. Norina Pero, because I'm still boggling at the really weird behaviour Sheppard had going on in Inferno. McKay is attracted to her, which is unsurprising considering she's a) intelligent, b) blonde, and c) dressed like a porn star pretending to be a librarian. Seriously, she's a dish and she wants him to teach her stuff. Unfortunately he keeps getting distracted from that by discovering how her planet is about to kill them all and trying to save them all. Look, if every instance of a man acting like a dork because he's attracted to a woman is counted as male chauvinism, then 90% of men are guilty. It's an invalid proof, if that's what you're using. That's not misogyny, it's hormones.
Jean Miller is probably one of the most important woman to consider here. Yes, they have a somewhat combative relationship, but they are siblings, and what's more they're genius siblings whose parents seem to have put a lot of emphasis on academic achievement. Yes, McKay thought she was making a huge mistake to give up her scientific career to raise her daughter -- but I know women who watch the show who think she made a mistake, mostly in an offended feminist "What the hell was that? She can't have a kid and a career?" way. (Although considering the lecture on "everything that's wrong with science today" that she gives to Rodney while she keeps him on her front step, I think it's safe to say it wasn't just the kid that had her deciding to give up academia.) Really, I could write about Jeannie all day, but for this entry's purposes, it's sufficient to point out that most of their friction comes from their familial relationship and sibling rivalry, and once again at no point does he say or imply that her gender has any impact on her intelligence or capability.
Like I said above (way, way above) Rodney has no difficulty whatsoever accepting Teyla or Elizabeth in their roles. He challenges Elizabeth just as much as he would any leader who he likes and mostly thinks is doing a good job. He's occasionally a pain but... he's McKay "He's occasionally a pain" is a general truism. He considers her his friend, and he'll argue with her when he thinks she's wrong, but he'd do that with anyone. Her gender is not an issue -- she's his friend, and his leader. He respects her. (Post-watching First Strike (Part 1) He's willing to back her up without prompting -- when Col. Ellis tries to assume control of Atlantis, he laughs at him and tells him it's not his call, then looks to Elizabeth for her decision.)
Similarly, he has no difficulty accepting Teyla as a member of his team, as a warrior, as the leader of her people. This would be because he's not stupid or blind. He has difficulty connecting with her in many ways, I think, because they are from such different backgrounds, but he likes her, and she likes him. He treats her as an equal.
In conclusion, I have NO FUCKING CLUE where this "male chauvinist" thing comes from. Seriously.
*I think he was overreacting, but look at it this way: she just did a mysterious (to him) about-face on the subject of leaving, she's an explosive expert, and she may potentially have retained enough knowledge about the intimate workings of Atlantis as perceived by Rodney to effectively place bombs and muck with the computer systems. And she's really kind of abrasive. I mean, she's friendly in a snarky very jock kind of way, and when has that ever gone over well with McKay?