Star Trek women
A topic was brought up in the second panel dealing with the role of women in Star Trek involving women as sex symbols and the way the show either chose to combat that or reaffirm it. Most specifically, I wanted to do a quick study of Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: The Original Series, and Star Trek: Enterprise.
Lt. Uhura
The Original Series is the first (as you might have guessed) and it features everyone’s favorite captain, James T. Kirk, widely regarded as the playboy of Star Trek. This series came out near the end of the 1960s, and showcased the female crew of the Enterprise in extremely short skirts, and usually as objects of Kirk’s lust. Most episodes were “women of the week,” with Kirk seducing, or being seduced by, a different woman, and then leaving her by the way-side.
Seven-of-Nine
- Following the success of The Original Series, Rodenberry rolled out four more series and then Star Trek: Voyager in 1995. Voyager was the first, and only, series to offer a female captain, in the form of Captain Janeway, who hlin portrayed in the second panel. However, Voyager also offers a sexy cyborg in the form of Seven-of-Nine, who represented the feticization of the machine.
Janeway is later involved romantically with her First Officer, Chakotay. However, unlike Kirk, she remains in a monogamous, loving, emotional relationship. Which leads to the impression that it is perfectly understandable, even encourageable for Kirk to sleep around, while such freedom is not “allowed” to Janeway.
Following along the same vein, Star Trek’s most recent series, in 2001, Enterprise, features a Vulcan Science Officer (yes, like Spock, only female) who shares Seven-of-Nine’s role as sex symbol of the show, named T’Pol. In later episodes, T’Pol’s sexuality is brought to the fore, when she becomes involved with the male chief engineer.
Which I suppose leaves the questions. What is it about science-fiction series in particular that requires female sex symbols? How much of it is trying to reach a target audience, and how much of it is the writer’s actual view of women? Are women in the future something to be owned? Mostly, I’d just like to hear anyone’s opinion on women in science fiction…
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ST:TNG (Star Trek: The Next Generation) also has the required sex symbol, Deanna Troi. She’s the ship’s counselor, basically a psychologist. In addition to being a sex symbol, she’s responsible for the crew’s mental wellbeing–she’s in a nurturing role. Mother-sex symbol? Sounds oedipal
Like the Seven of Nine/Janeway split in Voyager, there’s the Dr. Crusher/Deanna split in TNG. Beverly Crusher is the ship’s doctor, in charge of the physical wellbeing of the crew. She’s no nonsense and relatively non-sexualized.
I definitely see this tension in sci-fi between portraying women as sex symbols and portraying women as powerful and/or skilled. It seems to me that a lot of series deal with the tension by creating two female characters, one for each role.
It’s also important to remember that there are male sex symbols in sci-fi too. Riker, from TNG, is the example within the ST universe that springs to mind. He’s a dumb pretty body who gets to stand around while Picard does the interesting things. (I don’t know Voyager or Enterprise at all, so I can’t speak to those series).
On a different note, the technologies of video editing and the internet have greatly aided the development of Kirk/Spock slash videos and fanfiction.
One of the movies I thought might be fun for us to watch was the TNG with the female cyborg in it. The intersection there of sex, power, and technology is fascinating to me. In some ways, it falls into the trap of showing that a sexy, powerful female is something to be feared and ultimately destroyed, but like some of the imaginative characters we saw on Wednesday, it seems that the biggest fear factor was technology not gender–and it was technology used to make everyone part of a collective as opposed to using technology to be an individual. It’s interesting to contrast the cyborg woman in that movie with the Borg and with Data.
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I see no reason to think that science fiction is unique in its need for attractive female characters. Have you failed to notice how many police/crime dramas, e.g. the CSI franchises and Law and Order have very attractive female police officers, lab scientists, or asst. district attorneys? Medical dramas are similar.
Seven of Nine was an interesting case. Clearly the actress and her costumes were chosen to attract a male audience. However, the character’s issue was not to attract and sexually exploit the crew. Rather, she needed to go through adolescence, learning how to make independent yet responsible decisions, since she had spent all her teenage and young adult years as part of the Borg collective. In this regard, she was a teenager, Janeway was her mother and the holographic doctor was her father. It took her a long time just to learn how to go on a date, not to mention why it was important.
Incidentally, Star Trek: The Next Generation featured an episode in which a Captain of the Enterprise was female; she and her Enterprise came from a different (earlier!) time period from the Enterprise in the main story line, but there she was, nonetheless. The Next Generation also featured a female admiral in the story’s own timeline, who, naturally, outranked the ship’s captain.
Well, not all Sci-Fi has women as symbols, or sex symbols, only. SG’s Samantha Carter comes to mind, she has has an active roll, she uses her head and is no more, or less, a sex symbol than say Michael Shanks or even MacGyver himself. There are a few episodes where the feminist/gender issue is the focus, one comes to mind where Sam ends up winning a hand-to-hand combat situation against a male oppressor in a real backward society (1.04 “Emancipation”)
Yay, Sam! I will totally agree that Sam Carter is not set up to be a sex symbol, there is the unfortunate case of, what was it?, season 4? In which Sam was all of a sudden interested in pursuing a relationship with Jack. The results of that were an immediate and violent reaction from the fans, something to the effect of “ruining our favorite character.”
I think my favorite thing about Sam Carter is that not only is she kick-ass and uber-intelligent, but she also is feminine. Too often female characters are given harder personalities, so fans will dismiss them as non-sexual. Which doesn’t work.
Come to think of it, Stargate is one of the only SF series I’ve been consistently pleased with the women…
No love for the women of DS9?
To be honest, DS9 is the one series I haven’t seen.
I need to say that STV is my favorite ST series yet…the women are strong, courageous, willing to do battle and fight for what they believe in, even if its not the popular choice, but have a sensitivity that men just can’t seem to really pull off. A guy can say things that sound compassionate, but there’s always that streak of machismo they just can’t let go of…or the writer’s can’t. Maybe they believe it’s a sign of weakness. Always have to put on a “face” to fool the world, can’t let anyone close…not really.
Janeway does this and so do Seven and B’Elanna, in their own ways, without relinquishing anything. If anything, it makes them seem stronger, emotionally, mentally and physically. Look at Captain Janeway, all of 5″4? But can she make them cower with the right look, or even with just the tone of her voice. The sound of disappointment alone can almost bring them to their knees begging for her forgiveness.
To me, that makes them all extremely sexy. A woman who can hold her own against anyone, even bullies, but isn’t afraid to face, or tell the truth…which brings me around to V_Translanka (2 comments up) question about the women of DS9. Who could not love the fun loving, hard playing and mischievous Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell)? Especially after that kiss with one of her ex’s! That woman can KISS! Even her being paired up and married to WORF doesn’t offend; she seemed like the only one who wouldbe able to handle and settle down his Klingon nature.
As for Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor)…her stature, though small, did not go unnoticed. She is the B’Elanna Torres on DS9, only Bajoran. And when she crossed over into the looking glass…that was a SHOW to watch! But marring Odo? Too much. They lost me with that. It wasn’t believable. With Deanna Troi’s mother however…the show where her and Odo get stuck in the elevator? They would have made a better match. As for Ezri Dax, I just couldn’t get into the whole “feel bad for me because I’m filling big shoes” attitude they gave her. I understand she was supposedly the “only” one close enough, but still…well, it was as bad as if they had gone with their first choice for the Captain’s role for STV. Ugly! Not physically….but I don’t think the show could have survived her.
Mind, these are only my opinions.
Canyafly
I agree and think that if a woman is involved in ANYTHING tv she has to be SEXY SEXY SEXY and anything/everything else comes after. 7of9 displays this idea very well (the fact that the actress has talent is only secendary to the TIGHT bodysuits that highlight every curve and cat- like movement) Janeway isn’t so bad HOWEVER now a days it would be even more bad publicity for the writers/creators ect if there wasn’t 1 capt. who was female. She’s the only 1 who seems to use brains and not TNA to make ppl want to watch STV. IMO there are sooo many 7of9’s (and not just in ST but all over the tv world)and not enough Janways who show woman everywhere that brains can be sexy and to be sexy you don’t have to were a bodysuite or need a big,strong and rigged man to save the day.
it should also be said that this is just my thoughts and I’m entittled to express them. EVEN if noone else agrees w/ them.