Alien Woman: The Making of Lt. Ellen Ripley – Ximena Gallardo

Alien Woman: The Making of Lt. Ellen Ripley. By Ximena Gallardo and C. Jason Smith. New York/London: Continuum (Bloomsbury Publishing), 2004. First edition.

Signed and inscribed by both authors, Gallardo and Smith, at half-title. Paperback. Very good.

The work analyzes the construct of sex and gender across the four Alien saga films starring Sigourney Weaver. It discusses the character in the series, Ripley, a durable, self-sufficient female protagonist who starts as the Nostromo’s sole survivor. The book explores how filmmakers in the 80s and 90s adapted this strong character, rewriting Ripley to align with evolving social, political, and cultural standards for women. By dissecting these revisions, Alien Woman expands our understanding of women in sci-fi. Additionally, the book examines the creation and commercialization of this female hero, showing how changing views on women and the female body reflect broader societal beliefs and offering a lens to understand woman’s societal position in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Organized topically, including:

• Can’t Live with Them, Can’t Kill Them
• Men, Women, and Alien Baby
• Ripley Gets her Gun: Aliens and the Reagan Era Hero
• “The Bitch Is Back”: The Iconoclastic Body in Alien
• “Who Are You?”: Alien Resurrection and the Posthuman Subject

Also includes an afterword, selected bibliography, notes, and index. Afterword: Alien Woman