Before and After the Missile Crisis, Science Fiction Television and Gender, 1958–1968

Abstract

The gendered logic of the American security state would come under strain even before the missiles of October would bring the world to the brink of nuclear disaster in 1962, for the state was being tested already after an unnerving stalemate in Korea in 1954. If the consumer culture of the Eisenhower era sent comforting messages to men and women about the security of their nuclear family and country after a divisive and controversial military action, other messages were forthcoming that would indicate that the gendered hierarchic state was facing serious threats from its Communist enemies. Hydrogen bombs would, after mid-decade, pose a greater danger than the nuclear weapons of a decade earlier, as would Russia’s investment in developing ballistic missiles, something the Eisenhower administration had apparently underestimated. 1 Armageddon would not require four hours of flight by Tupolev bombers to cross the North Pole; the deed shortly could be done with missiles flying over a thousand miles per hour and arriving in minutes.KeywordsSecurity StateScience FictionCrew MemberTwilight ZoneStar TrekThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.