The women of Venus want to once again experience a man's touch. A former Miss D.C. transcends all normal applications of the term "statuesque beauty". And Jane Fonda does what Jane Fonda does best: save the world. The Hirshhorn brings high camp into the realm of high art with the kickoff of their free "Summer Camp" film series this Thursday. The theme? The feisty, dangerous, and scantily-clad women of adolescent male fantasies 50s & 60s science fiction cinema.

Strong (but visually exploited) women run a pretty consistent thread through the world of sci-fi/fantasy. While the easiest examples can be found in any comic book store, pop culture at large still carries on the traditions of the classic B-movies. Princess Leia in the gold bikini is pretty much an iconic image at this point, and while Joss Whedon had Sarah Michelle Gellar put the "buff" into Buffy in later seasons, let's not forget that the first season of the series put the Slayer into an endless series of tight sweaters, mini-skirts and push-up bras.

Every Thursday for the rest of the month, the Hirshhorn screens classics of the genre, with more in-depth discussion of the phenomenon by film scholar David Wilt introducing each film. They also invite everyone to enjoy a BBQ sandwich by the Plaza Fountain before the screenings, to celebrate the "BarBarella-Q" series. It's up to you to provide the sandwich.

All screenings begin at 8 p.m., are free of charge, and run about an hour and a half.

The schedule:

June 14
Queen of Outer Space (1958)
Zsa-Zsa Gabor plays a Venutian scientist fighting against her Queen's plan to eradicate men from the solar system, one planet at a time. When three strapping American astronauts land on the planet, many other Venutian women can't help but agree that boys aren't all bad after all, and they must all overthrow the Queen before she destroys the Earth. Civil war was never so sexy.

June 21
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)
Allison Hayes, D.C.'s entry in the 1949 Miss America pageant and a star of local television in the early 50s, made a career out of schlocky drive-in fare with titles like The Unearthly and The Disembodied. None is more well known, though, than her turn as a five-story colossus with an axe to grind with her no-good cheater of a husband. Philanderers beware.

June 28
Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy (1968)
While "Queen of the Galaxy" technically puts her at second in command to the "Queen of Outer Space", nobody puts Jane Fonda in a corner. Barbarella is one of the biggest cult hits of all time, spawning cultural reference points too numerous to count. She was spreading free love throughout the galaxy long before Tek Jansen came on the scene. You owe it to yourself to see the sexy results on the big screen before Robert Rodriguez updates this 401st century woman for the 21st century next year.