I actually worked in PR for a major film production company in LA (still do on occasion but I'm a full time student again) and trust me, as much as I feel ya there, they do have a point. The unfortunate truth is that the majority of the viewers are/were male. For every lady that showed up at the comic con promos and events for ST there'd be 10 more guys. It sucks and I'm exactly like you. I spend insane amounts of time and money on Star Trek and BSG and scifi in general. But when they mention things like that in the press, they unfortunately only touch on the one majority in the statistic.
And this is the mindset I am talking about, ask yourself
is the demographic male because only males like science fiction or is the demographic male because the producers of film and the publishers of books are not producing material that would attract female viewers.
It's easy to say that the male demographic is the majority because it has been for years but in truth just as many women would watch science fiction movies or read just as many books as males if the movies and books appealed to them. It's for sure that if you are only catering to a certain segment of the population that is the only one you will reach.
I personally think James Cameron's "Avatar" proved this point because it did appeal to a very broad demographic and not just the perceived audience for Science Fiction films. There is a growing group of female writers that are also proving that women read and enjoy Science Fiction novels too, but they had to go around the traditional publishing houses to be able to reach a female audience.
Brit
My problem with "
believing" this demographic report is because its not true in my world. Many of my female friends are scifi fans, and I really don't see why it matters that 9 men show up at a con for every one woman who does... But if it DOES matter, then I should point out that in the last 10 years I've flown across the continent "alone" to attend a Trek grandslam in Burbank, flew to Cleveland with 3 female friends to see "The Women of Star trek Voy" con, and laST YEAR drove to Jersey with 3 other female frIends to see another Trek con. At every venue, I saw MANY females, and could only wonder, as Brit asked,
how many more there could be if scifi courted as as avidly as they appear to court the make demographic.
firecrackerrrr wrote: 
But I always wondered if they did make it more appealing to the average female, would I still be interested in it?
AMG wrote:
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't. I feel a little alarmed just trying to picture what sort of shows or movies might be produced under such a scheme. I'd think rather just put up with being in the overlooked demographic.
Exactly. I'm all for female empowerment but if an average
bimbo can't get into the shows I like, frankly...maybe it's for the better. It sounds so mean but I LIKE to be challenged and watch something that requires me to use a couple of brain cells. Nothing worse than when they dumb things down. Now if they could keep things exactly the way they are, and acknowledge us - the awesome minority - that'd be ideal.
Are we suggesting that the average geico neanderthal male watching TV can appreciate Scifi but the average
female="
bimbo" cannot?
Nothing personal, people, but that's not just hitting below the belt, its simply wrong.
Asking for scifi to extend itself to a female audience doesn't mean we have to devolve the genre, it means we have to elevate it to attract a wider audience. Asking women to watch means many things,
not the least is TPTB have to give us stories that doesn't just objectify the female form/character. A story that doesn't belittle her contribution or her power. It means giving consistent
honor to both the male and female protagonists and not just pat the little woman on the head and sending her away for another cup of coffee.
Scifi has a lot to answer for, over the years, and many women are afraid to get into it for the simple reason that it feels like a male only club, and women need only apply if they want to "serve".
Little do these nonfans know that there have been strong women scattered through out the genre... and that's the problem. They are scattered.
Look at the last 2 Star Trek series.
"Voyager" was ripe with strong women, and beautiful though they may have been, cat suited though they may have been, none of them were paraded through the series doing half nude vulcan acupressure massage like poor T'Pol's character was seen doing frequently in
"Enterprise". None of Voyager's women were the screaming female that Hoshi seemed to become (I say this, despite the fact that in the first ep Hoshi was my fav character and T'Pol my least. That changed quickly as further eps ran.)
"BSG", reimagined, and "Firefly" are two scifi shows that should have been heavily advertised to the female audience, simply because both of them lacked the one thing that my female friends who are antiscif complain about. "The aliens". The people with the rubber heads and wayyyy too much makeup. That takes some nonscifi fans out of the moment, and who can blame them? How many times do you see someone looking like Quark, walk into your neighborhood bar?
I think, truth to tell, that Hollywood PTB are lazy. They would rather spit out "Weekend at Bernies II" than come up with an original idea. They would rather try to clone "Lost" than come up with an idea as daring as "Lost".
I suggest that they turn their focus groups to those of us who have left, and ask us what will bring us back to TV, rather than try to regurgitate the same show nine different ways. Law & Order:, L&O:SVU", "L&O: Criminal intent", L& O:London, CSI, CSI Miami, CSI:NY, NCIS, NCIS:LA.
Sure, your friends may lovingly tease you and say you're a nerd but you gotta just take that as a compliment 
