I was going to write at great length about this but I am not. I’m just going to post some pictures.
This is Star Trek. These are some women.
Right? Right?
THESE ARE SOME MEN
- I like that googling “The Doctor Voyager” still gets me pictures of David Tennant. But also here is the real deal.
Alpha Quadrant's Greatest Dad
Sisko and Dax in the "Trials and Tribbleations" episode of DS9.
Look at Dax, and then look at Sisko. Now I’m not saying that Benjamin Sisko is not a pretty dreamy dude, because he totally is, or that O’Brien is not the most lovable fictional dude in the history of everything ever (save my fictional husband Rory Williams). But. BUT. I have never seen a non-hot woman on Star Trek. Ever. Even Janeway was actually pretty hot. Most of the guys are pretty decent looking, but a lot of them are plausible, normal looking guys, while most of the female characters still manage to be insanely hot, even under layers of plastic/latex/face paint. This actually bothers me quite a bit. There isn’t a Star Fleet lady who doesn’t look like she has a modeling gig on the side–even Doctor Pulaski was quite a looker in her younger days).
I read that they put Sirtis in this skirt because they thought she was too chubby for the pants uniform. THIS IS A CHUBBY STAR TREK WOMAN GUYS.
Actually, yes. I am saying that it is pretty sexist. There’s a lot of critical reaction to old school Star Trek sexism, for good reason. There is a vast, wonderful universe where all of humanity’s problems are solved, all races are reconciled, and the Earth is completely at peace. But at the outset of this wonderful new world, a woman can’t be a starfleet captain. And even after we get female captains (wassup Kirstie Allie gurrrl), it still seems like their entrance exam had more to do with their waist-to-hip ratio than their captaining abilities (from what I hear, this is where I should be saying “wassup Janeway gurrrrl” but I haven’t actually watched much Voyager so I’m holding out judgement for now).
After I watched all of DS9, I went back and watched quite a few Original Series and TNG episodes and I have to say:
Uhura is a secretary. Nurse Chappel is a nurse.
Councelor Troi is useless and sort of bland, and Doctor Crusher is bland bland bland bland bland (except for her fabulous and wonderful hair).
Thankfully, Troi’s SASSY MOM WAS THERE TO RELIEVE MY DISAPPOINTMENT IN THE WOMEN OF THE 24TH CENTURY FOR BEING SO GODDAMNED BLAND.
Watching Lwxana be a badass makes me woman up so hard I'm growing an extra pair of ovaries.
There’s a lot to praise about the women of Star Trek. Some of them are pretty cool, and a few of them are even multifaceted, interesting people who happen to be women. I remind myself about that a lot. It does bother me that you can be any kind of man in Star Trek, of any race, species, volume, or opacity (like Dax’s ex-boyfriend, Captain Boday, with the transparent skull). You can be any kind of woman too–as long as you’re thin and busty.
And as long as you show a healthy amount of underboob.
Quiet Grrrl 
I think it is, like almost everything on television. Albeit it is a bit more discrete nowadays, but no one can stand to say that Hollywood is not sexist; Hollywood reinforces and builds up sexism in our everyday life like nothing else, even when it (Hollywood) pretends to not be, it’s being even more sexist.
On a different note (and sorry to bombard your blog with comments), Star Trek is television’s legend; I think we both agree on that.
No! Thank you for the comments! I really appreciate them!
Of course it’s sexist. However, it’s very unfair to judge the role of Uhura in the same way as you do the women’s roles of the much more recent shows. Nichelle Nichols on that show at all was amazing: she was a BLACK WOMAN ON TV playing a regular-person-with-a-job-among-men role, sexy woman though she was (and still is, I say!). It was truly groundbreaking. Also, look at the typical roles on TV at the time: if the women weren’t playing sexy, they were playing the stupid or naive woman role, the practical woman role, the wife role, or the unattractive-but-what-a-great-friend role. But most roles period were played by white women.
That the unfortunate and true persistence of sexism has continued in the decades since is a valid argument….but please love Uhura for all that she was and all that she stood for at that time!
That is a really, really good point and I’m ashamed that I didn’t think more about the context of events before I went on my rant. I was thinking about this through a modern lens– (“WHY ARE ALL THE WOMEN SEXY?! AHHH”)–and failed to see the implications of her role–I never really thought about it in that way.