The Rise Of The Female Sci-Fi Fan
Thanks to the good people over at SciFi UK Review for bringing this one to my attention. It seems there has been a major shift in the makeup of Science Fiction viewership (at least in the UK). The digital television channel Sci Fi UK has seen a 10% rise in its female viewers over the last 8 years and they now make up 51% of the audience, which if I’m not mistaken is about the same as the percentage of the population who are female.
While this number only applies to fans of TV science fiction, it’s still a major sea change for a group of people who are generally seen as male geeks. I’d be interested to see some similar numbers for the SciFi Channel here in the US too.
The original article on this subject credits the increase in female viewers to shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a distinct widening of the genre moving the emphasis from gadgets to characters and relationships.
I’d also be interested to see how science fiction readership breaks down as I don’t think we’ve seen any similar change in emphasis there. Written science fiction still seems to be heavily emphasising the science aspect. My guess would be there are more female fantasy readers than science fiction readers. Without numbers though, it’s just a guess.
Link: Telegraph - Adventures of Buffy and Lara see female sci-fi viewers outnumber males
Link: SciFi UK Review - SciFi Girls Vs SciFi Guys
One Comment, Comment or Ping
Andrew Oakley
The demographic shift is also very noticable at sci-fi conventions. It’s not at all unusual to go to a sci-fi convention in the UK these days where the females outnumber the males, especially if the convention is for a horror, witchcraft, vampire or paranormal theme or series (Buffy, Angel, Charmed, Underworld, Van Helsing etc.). For harder futuristic sci-fi I’d say those still have a largely male following, with the exceptions being Firefly/Serenity and the new series of Doctor Who. There’s also quite a following in the alternative fashion/modelling community, for instance my friend Jackie http://www.ladydchaos.cymrugothic.net . The UK’s “SFX magazine” has also noted this phenomenon after their awards ceremonies and conventions were almost overwhelmed by a heavily female majority audience.
Nov 2nd, 2005
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