Rocket Scientist

For those of us that grew up on Star Trek, combining sex and science fiction is par for the course.  Sick, you say? (Well, maybe not my friends).  Um, no, it’s natural.  Several reasons come to mind.

First of all, sex is a natural thing, especially for passionate characters.  And why wouldn’t one want passionate characters?  I don’t mean erotica, though I don’t discount it either.  I mean people (of any race/species/even artificial individuals) that care about what they’re doing and how they’re growing are passionate.  All that emotion is a fertile environment (if you’ll excuse the pun) for sex.

Secondly, sexual relations are an excellent barometer for general attitudes.  Just as the way people regard interracial marriage is a good barometer for racism, how people regard different, nontraditional, or interspecies sexual relations can say a great deal about how people really regard people who are different.  Since many speculative fiction stories highlight issues in today’s culture, this is a great way to bring it to light.

But part of it is just regular people’s natural curiosity, from wondering (and you know they wonder now) about sex in zero g, to speculating about aliens and sex.  It’s only a little stretch to wonder how far different two humanoids would have to be to still have enjoyable sex or how different they would have to be before being truly weirded out.  Or what kind of sexual rituals and notions one could really explore.

Let’s face it, imagination-wise, we’ve come along way since Kirk made it with a green chick.

(This topic brought to you from the mind of my husband who coughed it up when I requested a topic.  Quel surprise.)

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