# Star Wars: Do droids have gender? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2021, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548 "2021-09-12T15:36:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/21 "2021-09-12T19:37:01Z")
I went through the IMDB cast lists for the Sequel trilogy, and found two other female droids, in very small on-screen roles: - [PZ-4CO](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/PZ-4CO), a protocol droid with the Resistance, in _The Force Awakens_ (not sure if she even has a line of dialogue) - [ME-8D9](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/ME-8D9), a protocol droid which appears in Maz Kanata’s castle in _The Force Awakens_ (pretty sure she had no dialogue) ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/22 "2021-09-12T19:42:08Z")
It’s a PBP game on TVTropes and communicating OFC on Discord . The person running it isn’t sticking too closely to canon, but it looks to be fun. [Star Wars: Scrappers of a Lost Era (interest check) - TV Tropes Forum](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16295024250A88364500&page=1#11) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/23 "2021-09-12T19:46:29Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I went through the IMDB cast lists for the Sequel trilogy, and found two other female droids, in very small on-screen roles: So “The Force [may be] female”, but it doesn’t seem like machine equality is an issue that LucasFilm hasn’t fully adopted yet. Seriously, what would it mean for robots to have a “male” or “female” gender? Even if droids have some kind of emotional sexuality integrated into their programming, why would they adopt humanoid genders? Oh, unless the purpose was the creation of a class of sexual slav….oooohhhh. Never mind; not going to go there. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/24 "2021-09-12T19:50:39Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > This movie turns him into a gormless card cheat who is a simp for a particularly annoying droid as essentially his only two ncharacter traits… Yeah, I don’t really see it. His character seemed fine to me. I agree that Edsel Anglesort didn’t really pull off “young Harrison Ford” particularly well, but I’m not sure there was a better option out there - I’d probably have felt the same way about just about any actor in that role. Other than that, I appreciated an attempt to do a different kind of story in the Star Wars universe, that wasn’t about galactic empires and space wizards, and thought it executed on that reasonably well. Cliche? Sure, a bit, but what about Star Wars isn’t? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/25 "2021-09-12T20:14:10Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Oh, unless the purpose was the creation of a class of sexual slav….oooohhhh. Never mind; not going to go there. I have no doubt whatsoever that there is a significant chunk of Star Wars fanfic that features this, but I’m not going to look it up. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/26 "2021-09-12T20:17:27Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I agree that Edsel Anglesort didn’t really pull off “young Harrison Ford” particularly well, but I’m not sure there was a better option out there - I’d probably have felt the same way about just about any actor in that role. Well, it was actually Alden Ehrenreich, not Ansel Elgort (who I assume you were trying to satirically reference), but that actually emphasizes the point that pretty much everything that made Han Solo memorable and beloved by audiences came from Harrison Ford’s performance, and no actor was going to be cast that actually felt like Young Han Solo. (Sean Patrick Flanery did a perfectly cromulent job of playing a young Indiana Jones, but he didn’t make the mistake of trying to mimic Harrison Ford, nor did _The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles_ really hinge on trying to fill in specific backstory from the Indiana Jones films, so it didn’t really invite those comparisons. > [@Miller](#): > > Other than that, I appreciated an attempt to do a different kind of story in the Star Wars universe, that wasn’t about galactic empires and space wizards, and thought it executed on that reasonably well. Cliche? Sure, a bit, but what about Star Wars isn’t? You clearly enjoyed the film and I’m not trying to invalidate your opinion, but from an objective standpoint it really just seemed to exist to reference the few tidbits of backstory that _Star Wars_ fans have speculated and mythologized about for decades, and the result was less imaginative than the fan fiction it tried to displace. That is kind of a general problem with going back and filling in alluded details from the past in a story; unless there is some essential narrative purpose (e.g. Vito Corleone’s backstory in _The Godfather Part 2_ giving weight to the expectations of Michael) it rarely feels like good storytelling or character development, and instead just feels like filler. “Oh…so, that’s where the dice came from. I guess I needed to know that.” _The Mandalorian_ while far from original (my personal theory is that this was Jon Favreau’s _Edge of the Empire_ TTRPG campaign that he pitched to Disney), did a much better job telling a more engaging story by starting with a character that we don’t know about and building up his backstory and motivations as part of the the narrative. Without being burdened by any specific backstory, it could integrate characters and events from other _Star Wars_ properties without feeling like it was just a train being driven down a track through a sequence of obligatory references that are less exciting than what your imagination could come up with. But hey, at least Han definitely shot first this time. So, there’s that. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/27 "2021-09-12T20:18:52Z")
I liked Solo. I really did. I also liked that prequel to a New Hope where the main characters died. I thought both were good films 🙂 {Jumps off train tracks} ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/28 "2021-09-12T20:25:50Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Should I write “He walked forward through the hanger, considering his next move”? Or use “its”? Do they think of themselves as gendered? I don’t have an opinion on droid sexing, just wanted to point out that it’s _hangar_. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/29 "2021-09-12T21:05:01Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Well, it was actually Alden Ehrenreich, not Ansel Elgort Oh, sure. Next, you’re going to tell me that Dylan McDermott-Mulroney is actually two different actors. > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > You clearly enjoyed the film and I’m not trying to invalidate your opinion, but from an objective standpoint it really just seemed to exist to reference the few tidbits of backstory that _Star Wars_ fans have speculated and mythologized about for decades… I don’t disagree with this, I just don’t see it as a major criticism. Whether or not it lived up to that speculation is a matter of taste, and while I liked some of the old ideas better than what got into the movie, nothing in the film fucked up his character the way, say, the prequels fucked up Darth Vader. Anyway, jumping franchises: > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > …nor did _The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles_ really hinge on trying to fill in specific backstory from the Indiana Jones films, so it didn’t really invite those comparisons. That’s because there was literally no backstory left to explain after the first twenty minutes of _The Last Crusade_. > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I don’t have an opinion on droid sexing, just wanted to point out that it’s _hangar_ . You don’t know the context. Perhaps it’s a very small droid attempting to navigate a coat closet. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/30 "2021-09-12T21:34:41Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You don’t know the context. Perhaps it’s a very small droid attempting to navigate a coat closet. Judge me by my size, do you? ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/31 "2021-09-14T03:47:19Z")
I think they use what’s programmed in them. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/32 "2021-09-14T11:39:25Z")
R4-P17, Obi-Wan’s astromech droid in _Attack of the Clones_ and the first part of _Revenge of the Sith_ (before meeting her untimely demise at the hands of buzz droids) was also female. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/33 "2021-09-14T12:08:16Z")
I agree with everything you had to say about **Solo** , but would like to add one more thing: it looked cheap. Star Wars movies are first and foremost eye candy - and I mean that as a compliment - and besides the train robbery scene at the beginning, it just didn’t deliver. The sets looked cheap. The vehicles looked cheap. The droids looked cheap. There was a major battle scene in what looked like a disused Doctor Who rock quarry. The climactic fight was in some guy’s living room! I don’t watch Star Wars for fights in living rooms, I watch it for fights on railing-less bridges across bottomless chasms! First time I saw the movie, I left the movie theater thinking I hadn’t gotten my money’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/34 "2021-09-14T16:50:12Z")
I assumed (perhaps invorrectly) that the midwife droid that delivered Luke & Leia was female, as far as droids go. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548/35 "2021-09-14T23:10:56Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I have no doubt whatsoever that there is a significant chunk of Star Wars fanfic that features this Since it’s lodged in my memory, you get to suffer as well… The old Fan Fiction Friday web-column (basically point-and-laugh at the worst of the worst) once featured a Star Wars/Transformers crossover where Optimus Prime used R2-D2 as a butt plug [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-do-droids-have-gender/950548.md?page=1)