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I was watching A New Hope and I just realized something; when General Jan Dodonna was briefing everyone for the Death Star assault, the only pilots assembled are male humans. No female humans or aliens. Why is this?

I know the Doylist answer is that it was 1977 and women faced sexism in every industry and making alien costumes for pilots might've been just a bit too expensive, but in-universe, what's the explanation for this?

The Empire was xenophobic, so all their troops and officers were human, but the Rebel Alliance was open to all races.

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  • Hera was a member of the Rebellion: starwarsrebels.fandom.com/wiki/Hera_Syndulla
    – JK.
    Aug 30 at 6:58
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    The rebellion was open to all races, but they might not have been evenly distributed across all rebel bases. Had the death star approached Mon Cala, the pilot rooster might have looked different.
    – Eike Pierstorff
    Aug 30 at 7:14
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    Casting, and special effects costs :D
    – Journeyman Geek
    Aug 30 at 15:26
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    @EikePierstorff: Pilot rooster? I thought we established there weren't alien pilots?
    – ThePopMachine
    Aug 30 at 17:44
  • @ThePopMachine I am an alien (in all countries but one anyway) so forgive my lapse in language (alas I am German, I guess it would be funnier if I was French).
    – Eike Pierstorff
    Aug 30 at 18:44

1 Answer 1

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There were not only male humans at the Battle of Yavin. Additional canon commentary (written since the film was shown) has revealed that several human females were involved in the battle also, including;

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and

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  • Iden Versio - Black Squadron (Imperial) (Survived)
    enter image description here

  • Jaldine Gerams and Wona Goban may also have participated as they were not seen dying on screen in Rogue One and were confirmed (via the Rogue One: Visual Guide) to have been members of Gold Squadron.

In other (now non-canon) works, we see an array of other female pilots;

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  • 38
    Coming soon to scifi: Why were there only blonde human females at the Battle of Yavin?
    – Organic Marble
    Aug 30 at 11:33
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    @OrganicMarble - clearly because all the radiation in space bleaches hair white. Only the men are concerned about their looks and dye it back to dark...
    – Jon Custer
    Aug 30 at 12:37
  • @JonCuster "Peacocking" is a verb for a reason.
    – Yakk
    Aug 30 at 14:34
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    @Kris - Her CV is appalling. She was involved in every Imperial and First Order screw-up we saw on screen. I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't moonlighting as one of the stormtroopers who let the droids escape.
    – Valorum
    Sep 4 at 10:48
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    @Valorum I'd say surviving one Imperial military farce is a sign of a very lucky fighter. Surviving several? Well that's just pure skill! Also in her defence; once she switched sides, she was actively trying to screw up those Imperial & First Order's operations. ;)
    – Kris
    Sep 4 at 10:54

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