For die-hard “Star Wars” fans, any attack on the Holy Trilogy is considered blasphemy, although there are those who think the series is targeted at males and features, at best, weak female characters.
Since the release of the original “Star Wars,” the series has become a popular classic and has spanned generations. There are fans who think that the heroines of “Star Wars” are positive female role models, while others argue they are merely stereotypes.
The roles of the “Star Wars” women are “one-dimensional and patriarchal,” said Edrie Sobstyl , a research fellow with the University’s Center for the Study of Women in Society .
Some fans say that Princess Leia kicks butt in the original “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi,” and Queen Amidala (played by Natalie Portman ) rules in “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” and “Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones.” But the female stars are vastly outnumbered onscreen by their male co-stars.
“Amidala’s role is overwhelmed by special effects and technology,” Sobstyl said. “You don’t get the sense that she is a strong role model.”
Sobstyl, who is currently studying the relationships between science fiction and feminist science, believes that the science fiction genre is targeted at young men.
“In some ways, ‘Star Wars’ is really an elaborate and expensive commercial for video games,” Sobstyl said.
She believes that “Star Wars” is constructed in a way that appeals to males rather than females, with its constant references to toys, gadgetry and video games, which have typically been a male domain. Sobstyl argues that this type of masculinity is not inherent, but a social construction.
Emerald City Comics manager Stuart Bracker thinks the movies’ appeal is simpler than that. He does not think the series is targeted at males. Rather, he said the films follow the formula of universal myth stories that traditionally focus on the heroics of males.
“‘Star Wars’ is inherently for children, ” Bracker said. “It’s not really targeted at anyone, although the new movies are targeted at ‘Star Wars’ fans.”
Bracker said he knows both men and women who are fans of the movies, but he added that men are drawn to the comics, while women tend to be more interested in the books. There are hundreds of “Star Wars” books that detail a world richer than the movies and include a variety of different characters, Bracker said.

One of these characters is Mara Jade , a former assassin working for the evil Emperor Palpatine who ends up married to Luke Skywalker . She is a tough woman and a favorite of fans, but she never appears in the movies, Bracker said.
“The books have very strong women. The movies don’t,” Eugene resident Rachel Turpin said. While Turpin is a fan of both the “Star Wars” novels and the old movies, she refuses to see either “The Phantom Menace” or “Attack of the Clones.”
“The new movies don’t have the same zip, but I love the books — the books are great,” she said.
Bracker said that in the movies, both Leia and Amidala are good role models in their own ways. Anakin Skywalker’s mother is another character in the two newer movies, but both Bracker and Turpin agreed that she was too weak to be a good female role model.
“Princess Leia got to be a strong role model: a diplomat and a fighter,” Bracker said. “She even got to strangle Jabba the Hutt (in ‘Return of the Jedi’) in the end, even if she was wearing skimpy clothes. And she was the one who found the way out of the trash compactor (in the original ‘Star Wars’).”
Bracker added that Amidala had to have been strong to be elected queen by her people at age 14, and sources have hinted that Amidala has a stronger role as a warrior in “Attack of the Clones.”
“She had political savvy,” Bracker said.
Sobstyl now prefers Japanese anime over “Star Wars” as her science fiction of choice because it is more gender-friendly and more concerned with the environment, she said.
Anime’s physical portrayal of women is still stereotypical, but “they have female protagonists whose femininity is important to the story — rather that accidental,” she said.
Bracker concedes that Leia is portrayed as a bit of a sex object.
But, he added, “Han Solo is also a sex object.”