Joanna Russ’ “The Image of Women in Science Fiction” is particularly interesting to me, not only because of its criticism of the misogynistic trends found in much SF but also because of its pointing out of the problematic nature of underlying biases in the genre’s futures. In the essay, Russ discusses not only blatantly misogynistic space opera types of SF, but also the problem with many kinds of SF writings that intend to promote women in the story. The underlying current in this discussion that interests me is how the speculation of the future relies heavily on the past. Russ writes: “It’s the whole difficulty of Science Fiction, of genuine speculation: how to get away from traditional assumptions which are nothing more than traditional straitjackets” (Russ 208). Even the most radical examples of trying to escape traditional views that she lists fall short of truly removing themselves from these assumptions. In her main argument concerning the speculation of what becomes of modern conceptions of femininity, Russ writes that most stories attempting to be progressive end up not going far enough to truly speculate on future conditions for women. When faced with the egalitarian premise of Star Trek’s crew, she claims that it “is a reflection of present reality, not genuine speculation… the real problems of a society without gender-role differentiation are not faced” (204). Though it works to make sure women are equal in their roles on the ship, Star Trek is criticized by Russ by not truly addressing women as anything other than their role in the crew. The so-called futuristic advancements for women are simply reflections of what contemporary progressive values had called for at the same time. To truly be termed “speculative fiction,” a story like star trek would need more than just basic progression in this aspect of society; it would need an entirely new idea of what the future holds for both men and women, especially one many centuries ahead in time. This example brings to light an idea important throughout SF, that writers’ own traditional assumptions can quietly hide under the surface of worlds at first completely removed from that of our own.