The Women of Star Trek
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| Title: | The Women of Star Trek |
| Creator: | T.J. Burnside |
| Date(s): | April 1977 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS |
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| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Women of Star Trek is a 1977 article by T.J. Burnside published in Fesarius 2.
Some Topics Discussed
- specific female characters and their weaknesses
- Gene Roddenberry's valiant efforts to have women in command, and how he was thwarted by the networks
- some female characters and their good points
- a reminder that the show was aired ten years ago and things are better now than then
- maybe the upcoming movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, will have better roles for females?
Excerpts
One of the popular controversies in Star Trek fandom has always been the show's treatment of women.
For many people, everything, from the miniskirt uniforms to the frosted lens and romantic music used when viewing female characters, is demeaning and insulting to women... in a century where man has progressed beyond petty prejudices, it seems probable that women will have better things to do than say "Captain, I'm frightened!" when danger arises. The regular female characters on the show were notably lacking character development... Uhura seldom had a bigger part than "Hailing frequencies open, sir." And we knew little about Nurse Chapel and Yeoman Rand beyond their infatuation with the commanding officers. Many of the guest characters appeared to exist solely as "idiot females", notably Carolyn Palamas and Shahna. Women in supposedly respected levels of command were portrayed as sex crazed, bumbling or just all-around inept, the female Romulan Commander, Dr, Helen Noel and historian Marla McGivers make good examples.
The previously mentioned are probably the most obvious offenses. Many women's rights defenders bring up those points and more when illustrating how Star Trek is unfair to women. However, an important point which is often avoided is that these episodes were filmed close to ten years ago, when the woman's role in television was practically nonexistent. Although these scenes look unfair and degrading to women today, at the time of their first appearance they were breakthroughs.
Immediately, we can see that Star Trek was not as had for women as we had once thought. In addition, when looking even closer, we see many subtle points which the network executives probably missed.
Even when the characters were given basic female personality flaws (to the insistence of the network), they often redeemed themselves with other talents or scenes. Although Dr. Helen Noel ("Dagger of the Mind"), as a trained psychiatrist, did not recognize the inconsistencies in Tristan Adams' penal colony (this honor was left to our untrained hero, Captain Kirk), she later showed bravery and skill in overpowering a technician in hand—to—hand combat. This was also the case with Martha Landon (an otherwise two-dimensional character invented as a romantic interest for young Chekov) who had quite a fine battle sequence in "The Apple". Joanne Linville's Romulan commander, while trying to seduce Spock, still held the highest position of Command aboard the vessel, which was an accomplishment in itself.
On the surface, the inept characters may be the most prominent, but there were many fine women of character and fortitude in all three seasons of Star Trek. No one can refute the qualities of Edith Keeler, a kind and intelligent woman with a vision of the future as no others in her time could see it. T'Pau, the incredible matriarch and ruler of Vulcan held the respect of everyone in Star Fleet. Daras ("Patterns of Force") proved herself to be an accomplished member of the Ekosian underground, brave as well as efficient. T'Pring, although not terribly popular among women viewers, was shown to be anything but a silly, flighty female. Even the Klingon Mara was admirable, in her position as science officer to her husband Kang, and stood up to the men in defense of Captain Kirk. Among Enterprise crewmembers, efficient women in responsible roles included Jana Haines (who replaced Chekov during "Gamesters of Triskelion") and Lieutenant Ehada (helmsman while Sulu was on the planet surface in "That Which Survives").
Is the question really whether women were misused as sex objects? Admittedly, this was the purpose to many of,the characters presented in Star Trek, but for the female viewers. Captain Kirk was a sex object as much (or moreso) than any of the women. The real issue is whether or not women were given positions of responsibility and respect, which they carried out realistically. Evaluating the show as it appeared ten years ago, one would have to say it was successful. This is not to say that the women portrayed on Star Trek were the epitome of human kind... far from it. But they did blaze the trail for fair treatment of women in all media... and with the new Star Trek movie coming up, we can rest assured that the female roles will be accurately suited to their present status in society; with ten years to improve upon the original product, we should find the women in respectable positions, regardless of whether or not they're sex objects... and we won't have to stop seeing Captain Kirk's bare chest, either!