Most of you who care will have seen most of these already; just for my own record-keeping:

The gender dynamics in cross-class relationships in Firefly. Great quote at the end, though irrelevant to the basic argument:

What I adore about Kaylee, as a character, is that she completely ignores any sort of gender stereotypes, she’s a mechanic, she’s girly, she really into sex, she’s innocent, and when she wants a pretty dress it is quite possibly the ugliest pretty dress you’ve ever seen – but you love her for it.

Follow-up note on Serenity and US politics.

Followed by on the Guild and the Bene Gesserit“Well, Maybe You Can Take That Part Of The Sky”, by Abigail Nussbaum on sin and society;

and on gender and class again especially Inara, which leads to a surprising discussion of Star Trek, especially “The Cage”.