Dolphin’s Way:

From the moment Jane Wilson is introduced, she is idolized and described as perfect. Mal is so amazed by her, he can barely think straight. My original reaction to this was an eye-roll for such a clichéd and silly reaction to a beautiful woman.  Then she turned out to be an alien, which is, I think, supposed to be a satisfying explanation for his reaction to her.  I found this even more ridiculous.  Dickson has taken the old notion that women are a whole different species to a literal level. They are so difficult to understand that they might as well be from a different planet.

Send Me a Kiss by Wire:

Dr. Emily Bascom seems to be the only human woman in this story full of academics, industry people, and crew members.  Although clearly an accomplished expert in her field, more words were used to describe her physical appearance than her intellect.  Her main role in this story is to act as a catalyst for disaster.  Her husband, who also happens to be her dean, spends the whole story warning against doing the unwise thing that leads to disaster. He is the apparent voice of reason.  Then, at the end, when all is said and destroyed, she repents her actions and expresses regret. This occurs right when her husband has a moment of clarity, realizing that the destruction is worth the wonder. So, she is always either reckless or regretful, and he is always either wise or enlightened.

The only other female in this story is the giant squid who did the actual wrecking.  So, the only two women in the story are the two individuals most responsible for the horrible thing that happened.  Plus, the reason the female squid went crazy was because she was trying to get a male squid back.

If these qualities are representative of Schenck’s views about women, I’d say he had a pretty low opinion of them.

Davy Jones’ Ambassador:

There were no women in this story. This is as telling as if the story were full of subservient female characters with no personalities. To be fair, there were really only two characters, but there’s no reason one of them can’t have been a woman.