Strange New Worlds

Science fiction is a genre with boundless possibilities at its disposal, and yet it often finds itself addressing problems associated with earthly social dilemmas. Why might that be? From the wonder of far off worlds literal lightyears away, to the pondering of life’s greater questions and the mysteries of existence, why is science fiction, which appears on the surface to be a genre with implications that far exceed the petty social problems of society, consistently utilized to address the changing social landscape of mankind? That is because, unlike other genres, science fiction has the ability to examine a plethora of social issues in a way few other genres can. The reason that science fiction can examine social issues in a new way is because science fiction is inherently more malleable than other genres, and science fiction allows authors and creators more freedom to explore boundary pushing social issues. This can be proven by examining the history of inclusivity, in the themes of race, class, gender, and the intersectionality of all three of those themes, in key works pertaining to each of those issues within the genre of science fiction. 

An examination of the social implications of the genre that is science fiction can be best accomplished by exploring how the three key intersectional social themes of race, class, and gender directly relate to one another, and as well by examining when they overlap in the experiences of individuals, both real and fictitious, and how that relates to the science fiction genre. Specifically, the role of gender in Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, class in H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau, and the role of race in the original Star Trek series, will be examined. This examination will culminate in a discussion of the intersectionality of the three themes, and how they collided to shape the experience of the Lieutenant Nyota Uhura character in Star Trek, both in canon, and also the real-world experiences of African American actress Nichelle Nichols who portrayed her in the Star Trek franchise. By doing this deep examination of the works and character above, in conjuncture with an examination of the key themes therein, and also while highlighting appropriate historical and background context, it will prove science fiction is an inclusionary medium which offers more freedom for creators to explore social issues, which in turn helps foster a more inclusive society. 

For a general audience, it may come as a shock that the science fiction genre isn’t simply stories detailing the exploits of spaceships and aliens, but rather something a bit harder to define. Because this essay will examine the genre of science fiction along the lines of social issues, it is first important to begin to understand what the genre itself entails and reach a somewhat clinical definition that will help accomplish that goal. To help define what the genre of science fiction is, and what it is not, John Reider’s essay “On defining SF, or not” is useful because it has far reaching implications on the broader hallmarks of what exactly makes a work belong in the science fiction genre. Reider distills the definition into several informative bullet-points, in a list like format, noting of the genre that, “1) sf is historical and mutable; 2) sf has no essence, no single unifying characteristic, and no point of origin; 3) sf is not a set of texts, but rather a way of using texts and of drawing relationships among them; 4) sf’s identity is a differentially articulated position in a historical and mutable field of genres; 5) attribution of the identity of sf to a text constitutes an active intervention in its distribution and reception.” (Reider 191-209). From the points Reider gives, it becomes apparent that because science fiction is such a malleable “essence-less” genre, it can be utilized, at any given point in time, as a prime genre to highlight the mindset and social values of performers and authors, which in turn makes it reflective of the society and social changes of different eras at large. This is indicative that the genre itself is often on the forefront of changes in social values which makes it the obvious choice to help discuss and highlight the social themes of race and class, gender, and sexuality across changing eras.

The discussion of social biases like racism, sexism, and classism, and specifically how they overlap, is important and of particular note when discussing the background context that shapes the experience of the historically oppressed people in society, as well as in the science fiction genre. Because historically oppressed people, which in this context is considered those of an ethnic makeup other than white, and individuals labeled female at birth, represent the majority of the intersectional themes tackled in this essay, it is important to understand some background context related to those social issues. For background context, and the sake of the argument being made here, the term coined by Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, to describe the overlapping of several social themes is referred to as intersectionality. 

In her TED talk about intersectionality, Crenshaw notes that, “Many years ago, I began to use the term intersectionality to deal with the fact that many of our social justice problems, like racism and sexism, are often overlapping, creating multiple levels of social injustice” (Crenshaw 00:04:54-00:05:11). As the example illustrates, Crenshaw utilizes this seminar to describe, in the preceding quote, that multiple forms of social injustice can intertwine within one another and become more of a burden for a person being afflicted by several forms of social injustice. As such, those oppressed by several forms of social injustice inherently have a unique lived experience and stories detailing those experiences, like those being examined here in the science fiction genre, are important to be recognized as representative of layered systemic oppression.

The way social classes like race and sex can be indicative of systemic oppression lies at the heart of the grander point Crenshaw is making. Crenshaw’s term, intersectionality, is helpful in this manner to understand the ways in which experiences differ along social lines. The way that these biases, like racism and sexism in particular, can compound and become highly indicative of the experience facing black women in particular, like actress Nichelle Nichols in her actual life, and as well as on screen as the Nyota Uhura character in Star Trek, is fascinating. 

To better understand the argument Crenshaw is making about colliding social impediments, she also offers the analogy that intersectionality should be considered in terms of an “intersection (in a road, and) the way that the work force was structured by race and by gender” (Crenshaw 00:09:38-00:09:55). Crenshaw does this to suggest that the lived experience of the physical differences of race and gender can impede oppressed people in their livelihood as well as socially. Crenshaw likewise suggests that intersectionality means that someone is “being impacted by multiple forces, and then abandoned to fend for (themselves)” (Crenshaw 00:10:46-00:10:53).  Crenshaw’s “simple analogy to an intersection” takes the social themes of race, class, and gender, and offers that they are inherently intertwined experiences for some, and further that the discussion of them should be viewed not only as a singular entity, but rather collectively as they relate to one another (Crenshaw 00:09:35-00:09:39). The approach Crenshaw suggests, chiefly about realizing that multiple forms of oppression can be simultaneously occurring, and therefore strengthen the overall negative experience of an oppressed person, is how the chosen works will be examined in this essay going forward. 

Based upon the concept of intersectionality discussed by Crenshaw, and with the hallmarks of the science fiction genre defined skillfully in Reider’s analysis, a careful examination of the social themes in Ursula Le Guin’s science fiction masterpiece Left Hand of Darkness, which was published in 1969, can now be undertaken. Left Hand of Darkness is beneficial specifically for discussing the themes of sexuality and gender fluidity in a time when both were still considered very taboo socially, especially for that of the trans community, homosexual community, and intersex community. Individuals in those specific communities found themselves judged in the era of the novel’s release, and are as well in the modern era to a lesser degree, but in the 1960’s they were sometimes legally, but most often morally, ostracized. These individuals were regularly ostracized and subjected to being viewed as a lower “class” than heterosexual and cisgender individuals in Le Guin’s era, and her work in Left Hand of Darkness seeks to ask difficult questions on the subjects of sexuality and gender. In this way, Le Guin writes the protagonist Genly as narrow in his viewpoints, and he views the alien race of Gethanian’s in the terms of earthly gender and sexuality, that Genly would be accustomed to as a cisgender man in the era the novel was written. Genly, on the subject of forcing the aliens into categories fitting his own bias on gender, states in the novel that he “was still far from being able to see the people of the planet through their own eyes. I tried to, but my efforts took the form of self-consciously seeing a Gethenian first as a man, then as a woman, forcing (them) into those categories so irrelevant to (their) nature and so essential to my own” (Le Guin 12). In this way, Le Guin is thrusting the protagonist, and the reader, into considering other viewpoints about gender and sexuality that are separate from what society deemed appropriate in the era. 

Sexuality and gender further become topics that are discussed in Le Guin’s work, and she explicitly examines how they are both separate and distinct from one another, but equally valid of discussion and deconstruction, in subsequent parts of the book. The discussion Le Guin fosters, about both the “alien” races in the work, and also for Le Guin’s view of the binary system of human gender that was common in the era the novel was written, is apparent. On this notion, Le Guin chooses to address gender fluidity in the subsequent parts of the novel by noting that the “Indwellers of Otherhord” must remain celibate but that some seek out male or female hormones and are viewed as sexual deviants for it (Le Guin 62). Le Guin writes that the Indwellers have a “permanent hormonal imbalance toward the male (rather than) female (hormones), (and this) causes what they call perversion…They are not excluded from society, but they are tolerated with some disdain, as homosexuals are in many bisexual societies” (Le Guin 62). With the Indwellers, Le Guin is purposefully taking a stance on the way the binary gender construct in her era was limited in scope and encouraged society to “disdain” those who didn’t fall in line with that limited scope of the binary gender system.  As the “Indwellers” in the above example showcase, Le Guin’s work in the novel represents a defying of traditional ideas regarding gender and sexuality in society and allows a new perspective to be viewed on what exactly defines a being’s gender. 

The deconstruction of the social structure of gender and sexuality in Le Guin’s work begins to highlight the way science fiction allows authors, creators, and performers the chance to critique social implications in a new light, also offering slight protection from the weight of various real-world social backlashes that creators might face for defying societal norms. The freedom allotted to Le Guin’s musings on gender and sexuality in this novel offers a distance from our own society to allow a new perspective on the binary gender system of previous eras. Further, it should be noted that Le Guin’s work is still very relevant for helping to begin breaking those societal boundaries that were stipulated by the binary gender system, and Left Hand of Darkness helped usher in greater acceptance for that of the trans communities, homosexual communities, and intersex persons by examining masculinity and femininity in very obvious ways, that were clearly separate from the binary system of the era. Because of the conversations Le Guin helped foster about societal acceptance of non-normative aspects revolving around sex and gender, Le Guin’s novel is often remarked upon as the finest example of defying traditional gender and sexuality norms by several within academia. 

The defying of traditional gender roles in Left Hand of Darkness is the subject of Mascha Lange’s academic essay “Of Pregnant Kings and Manly Landladies.” Within the essay, Lange postulates that “Thus, The Left Hand of Darkness can be read as a deliberation on the intersections between science, fiction, and the discursive othering of nonbinary gendered individuals.” (Lange 123). Lange’s essay also argues that Le Guin’s “novel is widely acclaimed for its construction of a science-fictional society that is not rooted in a binary gender system, but whose subjects are ‘androgynes’ living in a world supposedly free of the constrictions of normative gender roles. The term androgyne has repeatedly, and rather unreflectingly, been used by science fiction critics to describe the neither/nor of Le Guin’s humanoid characters’ gender” (Lange 120). In the above example, Lange argues that Le Guin’s seminal work allows those “taboo” subjects to be viewed separately from the binary gender system of her era, and as well in a new perspective as to what exactly stipulates sexuality and gender. The freedom the science fiction genre gives in Le Guin’s work is the chance to critique and deconstruct the social implications of gender in that new way. Le Guin however, was still rightly smart in addressing the strictly bound societal resistance and pressure facing females and minorities in her own time, by also choosing to focus on aspects revolving around classism and imperialism.

The classism and imperialistic themes at play in Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness is further discussed in the academic essay, “Toward a Cosmopolitan Science Fiction” by David Higgins. Higgins offers a lens to view Le Guin’s work in the terms of not only the social themes inherently within, but also anti-imperial themes regarding class. Higgins notes that “Le Guin opposes colonial imperialism, and she is devoted both to a cognitive mapping of changing imperial conditions and to the acceptance and exploration of lived differences.” (Higgins 336). In this way, Higgins begins to help examine the other social aspects, like anti-imperialism and related social issues based on class, that are further deconstructed within Le Guin’s work. Higgins further notes that the work offers glimpses “of the possible political shapes of instantiated cosmopolitan conviviality in The Left Hand of Darkness” (Higgins 351). Because of this analysis by Higgins, it is clear the warring factions and classes of people in Left Hand of Darkness are stand-ins for the political systems and groups of Le Guin’s era. The social themes Higgins examines in Le Guin’s work can also be contrasted with the themes of class and racism in H.G. Wells’ work The Island of Doctor Moreau, and in that of Star Trek’s characters.

This evaluation of social issues and class in science fiction is a common through line with the far older work, H.G. Wells’ The Island of Doctor Moreau, which examines the theme of class, as well as racism. Class and race are inherently linked in society, and this is also true when discussing the intersectionality of social issues in science fiction. Both class and race specifically play a large role in H.G. Wells The Island of Doctor Moreau, which was first published in 1896. Wells’ work details the fictional Doctor Moreau creating his own race of animal hybrids and has deep real-world parallels to class systems, racism, and of the societal stances on both as a whole. The interesting dichotomy between race, class, and “animalistic nature” is something remarked upon often in the novel. 

Doctor Moreau, in the story, tries to hybridize animals and human beings together. In this way, Moreau succeeds and creates his own class, but he does not view them as human or equals, and they are viewed as off-putting and even beneath him while being subjected to his authority. Moreau notes of the race of animal hybrids that, “cravings, instincts, desires that harm humanity, a strange hidden reservoir to burst forth suddenly and inundate the whole…creature with anger, hate, or fear. These creatures of mine seemed strange and uncanny to you so soon as you began to observe them; but to me, just after I make them, they seem to be indisputably human beings. It’s afterwards, as I observe them, that the persuasion fades. First one animal trait, then another, creeps to the surface and stares out at me. But I will conquer yet!… They go. I turn them out when I begin to feel the beast in them, and presently they wander there… There is a kind of travesty of humanity over there. Montgomery…(is) ashamed of it, but I believe he half likes some of those beasts.” (Wells 64-65). The preceding passage is evocative of the fact that Moreau begins to represent a social system that values the physicality of this class of people, and yet, he cannot accept them if they do not bend to his unilateral will and way of life. This imbalance in power dynamics parallel the relationship between imperial nations and colonies, class and race, and slaves and slaveowners.  

The imbalance in the power dynamic between the role of the “master” in the character of Doctor Moreau, and the race of animal hybrids, as servants, becomes reflective of a great many negative social issues, including slavery. The class of created hybrid people in Wells work, specifically referred to as “Beast Folk” or “Beast People”, are portrayed as being human-like, but not quite. They are thought of as separate, and portrayed as unequal, bestial, and less intelligent than the human counterparts in the work. The protagonist of the work remarks upon the alien ways of this race of creatures as being “strange how soon I fell in with these monsters’ ways”, and of their subservience with the line, “loyalty was of infinite service to me” (Wells 99). In this way of discussing the “Beast People”, is hard not to bring to mind images of slavery and classism with passages like the preceding. This inherent link between class and race in society cannot be understated, and likewise it is referenced heavily in many works of science fiction. 

In the academic essay “The Bestial Mark’ of Race” the author, Timothy Christensen, critiques the usage of class, and in turn race, in Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau. Christensen suggests that Wells’ work, in contrast to the way Le Guin’s work is fondly looked back upon for showcasing changing social discussions, begins to show its age by highlighting negative thoughts on the issues of race. Christensen states that Wells paints the namesake character as “an examination and critique of the hubris contained in the belief of many of Wells’ contemporaries that the biological and social sciences could eliminate the unknown or the excessive from the calculus of humanity” and further that Wells’ novel makes a claim of the need to use the pseudoscience of eugenics in the lines, “Moreau ultimately seeks to eliminate this necessary excess from the calculus of his science, and thereby inaugurate an order of rationality within which nothing will escape his imposed order and all knowledge will be transparently available to him” (Christensen 577). Christensen argues that Wells’ characters are evocative of negative societal issues that revolve around class and race, and, in this way, Wells’ Moreau is indicative of many deeper, systemic problems with class and race that are still being sorted out in both society and science fiction.

 Science fiction, being such a malleable and “essence-less” genre that changes with the time and society, also changes mediums entirely in more modern eras. It, therefore, becomes imperative to track those changes in the way the genre approaches the handling of social issues over mediums that became more popular in the latter half of the twentieth century, like that of comic books, films, and television. Science fiction on television has a varied background, from the black and white adventures of Buck Rogers and Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, to the far-reaching exploits of the Starship Enterprise in the Star Trek franchise. The Star Trek franchise is remarked on specifically for its inclusivity by showcasing a wide variety of characters and issues, a reliance on scientific principles, and a devoted fan base. In André Carrington’s analysis of the original series in his book, Speculative Blackness, he goes so far as to note that, “Star Trek famously showcased a “final frontier” for its audience, and a diverse cast seemed to embody the future on its set. It changed the way television audiences thought about space and the way that critics and professionals concerned with space related to television audiences; to do so, it had to change the way we thought about race, gender, and sexuality.” (Carrington). This shows that at the heart of the franchise, lay its groundbreakingly inclusive original series cast, led in part by the African American Nyota Uhura, who, unusually for the era, managed to relish in both her race and sex.

Because the Star Trek series is continually referenced fondly by modern authors for its uniqueness in diversity overall, the Nyota Uhura character herself is also studied heavily within the series. On the subject of Uhura, André Carrington’s book Speculative Blackness offers an analysis of science fiction, and the grander aspects of the portrayal of black characters within the genre. Specifically, the second chapter “Space Race Woman: Lieutenant Uhura beyond the Bridge” is of particular note because it discusses the Star Trek series as a whole and Lieutenant Nyota Uhura’s portrayal therein, as being unique for both an African American and a woman. The analysis offers the following, “Black women have been marginalized in the production of popular culture, including the relative alienation of Black women from the SF genre’s conventional ways of envisioning race, gender, and sexuality” (Carrington). Those “conventional ways” Carrington remarks upon were certainly subverted in the Uhura character. Nyota Uhura was professional, unapologetically feminine and black, and even managed to nab one of the first onscreen interracial kisses with the white series lead, James T. Kirk, in 1968. 

On this milestone that was the interracial kiss, Carrington believes that Uhura’s portrayal had the “most sensational moment featuring a kiss between William Shatner (portraying James Kirk) and Nichelle Nichols, (which was) the second interracial kiss on television” (Carrington). Further, Carrington states that “Nichols’s Black womanhood makes her participation in the kiss scene unconventional with respect to the conventions of heterosexual romance on television.” (Carrington). The scene wasn’t without controversy though and prompted boycotts in the racially divisive deep-south. The kiss scene in particular goes to showcase the societal lengths Star Trek, and Nichols, were willing to cross at the time for the sake of showcasing change in social issues in the genre of science fiction. Because of this, Nichelle Nichol’s Uhura character represented a stark breaking away from the way African American women had been portrayed on television.  

The Uhura character represents a first in many regards for modern science fiction, and the implications of her portrayal had real world implications on actual scientific fields. Carrington goes on to state that, “Nichelle Nichols, as the actor who portrayed Uhura on the starship Enterprise and, later, as the celebrity recruiter who diversified the astronaut corps” and further that “when she recruited for NASA…Nichols lent her celebrity to recruiting efforts for NASA that enlisted history-making astronauts, including Sally Ride, Guion Bluford, Judith Resnik, and Ronald McNair” (Carrington). In this way, Nichols utilized her portrayal of the Uhura role, as a black woman in the field of science, to impact society at large, while also never sacrificing her blackness or femininity. On this subject of Uhura influencing societal changes, Carrington argues that “we might envision Nyota Uhura…as an opportunity to look forward to, as a document of our possibilities, rather than as a document of our limitations.” (Carrington). In the argument Carrington makes in the above passage, the changes the Uhura character had, being represented as a strong-willed and science minded black woman, is especially important as a role-model to strive towards. 

Carrington, however, is not the only one in academia to make such comparisons between changing culture and the original Star Trek series, as well as connections to the Uhura character. In the essay, “Star Trek and Utopian Future: Race, Gender and the Cultural Imagination Analysis” the authors, Ika Puspita and Susilo Widyarini, offer an academic analysis of the social structures present in Star Trek and its relation to femininity and a changing social landscape in the real world. Further, because science fiction is malleable to the era it was written and on the forefront of societal change, the portrayal of a character like Uhura in the show was unusual because, as Puspita and Widyarini mention, “to have a woman play such an important role (in a) movie was inappropriate because at the time a woman could not have held a high rank” (Puspita and Widyarini 65). As Puspita and Widyarini suggest, in the era the show was created, it was impossible for a female to hold a high rank in a military-like institution. This showcases the limiting social roles Star Trek was pushing against and how “Star Trek had to present a world in which its audience could imagine them participating” (Puspita and Widyarini 65). Puspita and Widyarini do however note that female characters in Star Trek did tend to be “objectifications insofar as the concept of femininity and sexuality is concerned” (Puspita and Widyarini 64). From this, it can be gathered that the portrayal of females in science fiction hasn’t always been flattering, and thus the objectification of female character in Star Trek represents a common thematic through with author Patricia Vettel-Becker’s analysis of Star Trek, Nyota Uhura, and feminism. 

In Vettel-Becker’s analysis of femininity in the Star Trek series, it is directly highlighted that Uhura was portrayed as stereotypically feminine. In a passage that deals with the social anxieties about the female gender, Vettel-Becker notes that “Lieutenant Uhura… may have soothed anxiety … by appearing and acting ultrafeminine, overcompensation for (females) relinquishing of domesticity and their adopting of scientific or technological career field …(and) That they could function within these roles while retaining physical markers of femininity may have suggested to American audiences at the time that gender equality would be achieved by the twenty-third century. Within the contemporary mindset, to empower women meant to empower women in their femininity” (Vettel-Becker 146). The argument Vettel-Becker makes can be further distilled and simplified into the notion that female characters were explicitly portrayed as being stereotypically feminine in features and manner. This was done in the era Star Trek was created in because it might casually persuade a close-minded audience that equality in both workplace and field of work was attainable and not something to shy away from. Vettel-Becker’s analysis further showcases that the portrayal of Nichelle Nichol’s unapologetically feminine, black, strong-willed, and science minded Uhura character had real-world social impacts.  

The genre of science fiction may be essence-less, but it certainly isn’t impact-less. Science fiction challenged societies pre-conceived thoughts on a variety of social issues. Those social issues are not only about things that are extraordinary, but can, as this essay has demonstrated, be entirely based on an earthly experience. By examining various works of science fiction from different eras including, the antiquated viewpoint of H.G. Wells’ Island of Doctor Moreau on the social issues of class and race, Le Guin’s work critiquing the binary gender norms and sexuality, and Nichelle Nichols brilliant portrayal of a strong-willed and sharp-minded black woman in the race-turbulent 1960’s, it can be seen that science fiction changes with the voice writing it or portraying it. In this way science fiction truly is a malleable medium that both changes with the time, and can be utilized to foster societal change itself. Le Guin’s work helped foster a greater understanding of why exactly binary gender and sexuality norms aren’t particularly helpful to society. H. G. Well’s work showcased how class structure and race relations of his era were highly detrimental to the many who found themselves stripped of their own autonomy, and under the boot of a master. Nichelle Nichols portrayal of Nyota Uhura in Star Trek inspired countless essays detailing just how much of a welcomed anomaly the character was in the science fiction genre. Most importantly however, Nichols inspired wonder amongst fans who saw themselves represented in her portrayal. The wonder Nichol’s portrayal inspired within Carrington, Vettel-Becker, and the many female astronauts inspired by Uhura helped seal Nichols legacy as more than just the “bit player” the studio treated her as (Carrington).         

By specifically tying the three intersectional themes of class, race, and gender together, across The Left Hand of Darkness, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and Star Trek, it is obvious to conclude that the genre of science fiction is both malleable to the era it was written, as well as inherently inclusive in nature. It is important to note that more diverse and varied voices have helped diversify what was once a near-exclusively white male driven genre even further, allowing the genre of science fiction to inspire tough conversations on social issues. Those discussions hinge on the fact that science fiction is, at its’ heart, an inclusionary medium that pushes boundaries. It still presents a well-spring of opportunities for challenging the viewpoints of society, and new authors and performers are attempting to right the wrongs of a once exclusionary system. Many modern authors are examining the works of the past and rightly calling insensitive material out in a way which allows for greater female and minority representation to begin to fill the landscape with contrasting viewpoints, helping to drive the genre of science fiction into a new era where no one has gone before.

Works Cited:

Carrington, André m. Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fiction. University of Minnesota Press, 2016. Kindle Edition. Accessed 05 May. 2021.

Christensen, Timothy. “The ‘Bestial Mark’ of Race in ‘The Island of Dr Moreau.’” Criticism, vol. 46, no. 4, Fall 2004, pp. 575–595. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/crt.2005.0013.

Crenshaw, Kimberlé. TEDTalks: Kimberlé Crenshaw: The Urgency of Intersectionality : TED (Firm), 2017. EBSCOhost, Accessed 05 May. 2021.

Higgins, David M.; “Toward a Cosmopolitan Science Fiction.” American Literature 1 June 2011; 83 (2): 331–354. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00029831-1266081

Lange, Mascha Helene. “Of Pregnant Kings and Manly Landladies: Negotiating Intersex in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness.” Aspeers, no. 12, Jan. 2019, pp. 117–138. EBSCOhost, Accessed 05 May. 2021.

Le Guin, Ursula K. The Left Hand of Darkness. 50th Anniversary ed., Penguin Random House, 2019.

Puspita, Ika Destina., and Widyarini Susilo Putri. “Star Trek and Utopian Future: Race, Gender and the Cultural Imagination Analysis.” EnJourMe, vol. 3, no. 2, Apr. 2019, pp. 61–66. EBSCOhost, Accessed 05 May. 2021.

Rieder, John. “On Defining SF, or Not: Genre Theory, SF, and History.” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 37, no. 2, 2010, pp. 191–209. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25746406. Accessed 05 May. 2021.

Vettel-Becker, Patricia. “Space and the Single Girl: Star Trek, Aesthetics, and 1960s Femininity.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies, vol. 35, no. 2, May 2014, p. 143. EBSCOhost, Accessed 05 May. 2021.

Wells, H.G. The Island of Doctor Moreau & Other Stories. ed., Wordsworth Editions Limited, 2017.