My Orion (The Roles of Women in Star Trek)

[Devika Sedush]

This weekend past, my character Devika reached the point in the game where I was able to open up the Klingon Defense Force as a playable option.

(By the way, I have a difficult time imagining the Klingons calling anything a “Defense Force”. Wouldn't Klingon Attack Force or Klingon Conquering Force be more appropriate? What about Klingon Ass-Kicking Force? Just my opinion...)

Anyway, I immediately rushed right in and made...


...an Orion Slave Girl.

Women in Star Trek have changed a whole lot since the inception of the first series. In TOS, there were only three women of note, and all of them were treated in the show as was common for the times. There was a nurse (Christine Chapel), a telephone operator (Nyota Uhura) and the girl who gets the coffee (Janice Rand). Women were support characters at best, and the three “main” women were mainly there for window dressing. Of course, many women were cast in special guest roles, and were defined by three factors:
1) How much skin they showed
2) How much screaming they did when the alien-threat-of-the-week showed up
3) How quickly Kirk got to kiss them
Even when they tried to portray women as being strong (like Elaan of Troyius or the Romulan Commander in Enterprise Incident), they were still largely dominated by their emotional, vulnerable female side. Of course, no where in Trek were women treated solely as objects of carnal lust more than the green-skinned, skimpily-clad dancing girls sold throughout the galaxy by the Orions.

Things changed only slightly with the movies. Ensign Chekov's spot as navigator was given to Ilia, a Deltan (a race known for sex), but her primary purpose was to act as a vessel for V'Ger so the probe could have sex with Commander William Decker (representing the probe's creator). Uhura was still a glorified telephone operator, Chapel (who is at least a doctor now) and Rand are pretty much ignored.

With the Next Generation and following series, women's roles change even more. Tasha Yar showed women were capable of being tough, security types (okay, so she didn't last long and got swallowed by some black goo) but Beverly Crusher tempered Leonard McCoy's gruff doctor by being a mother to the Universe's Most Annoying Teenager, and Deanna Troi, who is a Betazed (a race know for sex) is there primarily to tell Jean Luc Picard about her feelings and be chased around by:
1) Commander Riker
2) Lt. Commander Worf
3) Assorted visiting alien males

In Deep Space Nine, we were introduced to tough-girl Kira Nerys, a major in the Bajoran Military and liason to the Starfleet personnel stationed aboard the orbital facility. At least Kira did not bat her eyes in every episode. There were one or two times when she was allowed to be show a bit of feminine vulnerability later in the show (such as her feelings for Odo, expressed to late to be taken advantage of). But mainly Kira got to face down Gul Dukat and the various Cardassian and Dominion enemies that threaten Deep Space Nine. The girliness was left to Jadzia Dax, who was exceptionally competent and skilled, and tough, but who also got to be pursued by:
1) Doctor Julian Bashir
2) Quark the bartender
3) Commander Worf (who really gets around)
There is also pixie-ish Ezri Dax, but she really joins too late to make any impact on the series.

Voyager, of course, gives us Captain Kathryn Janeway and the liberation of females is complete, because she shows everyone that on her starship, the highest authority is God and Janeway, and not always in that order. B'lanna Torres (the half-human/half-Klingon engineer) takes over for Major Kira in the tom-boy role (though she builds a relationship with Tom Paris). Then, of course, there is Seven of Nine, the Borg who joins Voyager partway through the journey back to the Alpha Quadrant. (I have to question here why it is that all the rest of the female Borg look like extras in a Rob Zombie film, but Jeri Ryan could wear her implants right onto the cover of Maxim magazine?) Seven's primary purpose seems to be being poured into a silver catsuit to the delight of men (and yes, some women) throughout Trek fandom, and be sought after by:
1) the Doctor (a hologram, by the way)
2) Commander Chakotay
3) Commander Worf
(I'm just kidding about Worf. But I'm sure he would have tried)

And then comes Enterprise, which is the first Trek series I watched from the beginning (I really started with Voyager, in season four or five). Enterprise is the last series produced, yet is the first series in the franchise chronologically. And with Enterprise we come full circle. Ensign Hoshi Sato is a glorified telephone operator (who at least gets to do a few more things than Uhura ever did), and T'Pol is the Vulcan science officer who replaces Seven of Nine in the tight, form-fitting catsuit (when she isn't smearing jelly on her bare belly in the decontamination unit). Although Captain Archer eventually comes to respect her, his initial resistance to her means that their relationship never reaches that of Spock and Kirk, so she never attains quite as much influence over the Captain as Spock does in TOS.

Of particular interest to my character is a development that comes out during the appearance of the Orion Slave Girls in Enterprise. It seems that, in reality, the Slave Girls actually control Orion society. Orion females produce pheremones that pretty much make the Orion males do whatever they want. And the males of just about every other species in Trekverse. Prevailing theory suggests that the Orion women perpetuate the whole male-dominated society in order to keep interstellar races away. Races that might be tempted to attack the Orions if they knew that the Orion Hegemony weas controlled by “weak women”. The Orion women also allowed themselves to be bought by people throughout the galaxy, people who were usually highly placed in their respective race's government, business, or military, where the Slave Girls would begin to exert their will over their male “owners”.

L'oni is a Commander (almost Captain) in the Klingon Ass-Kicking Force. Although not fleshed out entirely yet, her history is that of an Orion woman “sold” to a member of a rising Klingon House. The Klingon is killed, however, and his first mate takes command. Being a female, the new Captain is not influenced by L'oni at all, and plans to make some coin selling her off to some deep space brothel somewhere, but L'oni leads a successful mutiny (with the help of a Gorn named S'leeth and an alien named Nidu). Of course, the question remains why she is in the KDF and hasn't been blown out of space by the Klingons, but like I said, her bio isn't completely thought out yet.[/i]

[mark (James Bailey)]

this is really great! i have always felt uncomfortable with the way they portrayed women in TOS, since there were very social progressive they tended to balance it off by building up the "helplessness" or the gathering skills.

One thing (imhp) that i think you left out in TOS was one of the most powerful and important characters of them all. The Enterprise itself. She seemed to have a life of her own, Jim was devoted to her and Scottie did all that he could but the Enterprise would always have that certain something to give at the last second. It was a kind of Mother Earth kind of woman but she certainly was a wonderful lass ;)

[Saedor7]

I tend to disagree slightly with your interpretation of women in TOS as being 'window dressing'. It's true that by todays standards they appear to be 'second class', but an understanding of the times makes this not quite true.

The producers of Star Trek were, of course, older men that did indeed believe that women should be in the background. But Gene Roddenberry felt otherwise. Recall that the original 'First Officer' of the Enterprise was a woman (Number One in the pilot episode "The Cage"). The producers made him change that.

As to the uniforms... In reading inteviews with Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), she states that the uniforms were actually very liberating for women of the day. They allowed women to be sexy, yet still business-like. In the 60's women were not expected to display their sexuality in public, nor were they expected to be business-like in the sense that men were.

Then there's the fact that Uhura was a full Lieutenant and bridge officer. See the episode "The Man Trap" for a telling scene... Uhura enters a ships corridor from the turbolift and the male crewmen all step back in respect as she walks by. Not other TV show of the 60's would do that.

There are other examples, if you know where to look and understand the mindset of the late 60's. You cant judge the show fairly from the modern perspective unless you view it from the time it was made in.

[Devika Sedush]

If I am seeing this right, the Enterprise is a naval vessel, right? Maybe "exploration" is their number-one priority and not so much the military. But I don't see that miniskirts, nylons, and disco boots as being anything other than showing off your female crew's legs.

As to viewing a show from the 60s in any perspective other than that which I grew up in, that's a bit more difficult

[Saedor7]

[Sky Falls In Thunder]

One of the biggest issues female characters faced in TOS was the Suit Desk Things in the studio. If you have Netflix, watch the original pilot, "The Cage." Majel Barrett's Number One character was intended to be the first officer, Spock was a secondary character. The women wore pants, and her character in particular was strong and decisive. But the studio said NoooOOOooOOOOO! "Female viewers will HATE her." (To be fair, I read that they did some focus group stuff, and the 'average' female tv viewers they used considered Number One to be bitchy and bossy.) Roddenberry, ever the subversive, like to slide in an incident here or there where his women would butch up and take no shit (Uhura threatening to shiv Mirror Sulu, for example)... but he wsa largely constrained by what the Studio thought viewers were tuned in to.

(Not that Gene didn't mind a bit of leg himself...)

[Skonn]

What a fascinating subject, I'm glad you brought it up!!

Speaking as a Historian, I know that for someone of our time to get into the mindset of someone who lived long ago (meaning any time that we didn't get to live in) can be difficult... it's simply something we don't get to do in our day-to-day lives. But while it's something we may never really attain, it nonetheless can get us closer to understand "just what the hell where they thinking?"

A couple of examples in TOS, in my mind, are ahead for their time. The Romulan Commander is the chief one. When Rand was fetching coffee, Chapel was stalking Spock and Uhura was the ship's receptionist, the Commander was in charge of her own ship, and none of her crew showed her anything but the utmost respect (her Sub-Commander was even scared of her!)

Yes, she got googley-eyed over Spock and it led to her being suckered, big-time. But I don't think that the message to take away from that is that even women in positions of authority can be brought down due to their emotional vulnerabilities.. it's partially the result of a bad script. I've read more than one interview where D.C. Fontana, the writer of the ep (and a woman), has expressed regrets over how she wrote the Commander, and how a wily Romulan -regardless of gender- should have smelled a rat early on.

Mara, Kang's wife and Science Officer, is another great example. Yes, at one point in the show she's objectified, as a rage-crazed Chekov all but rapes her and she must be rescued by Kirk and Spock.. but even when rejected by her disappointed husband, the epitome of Klingon badassery, she stands her ground and makes him understand they're being used. She was the rational Klingon in the episode (in the entire series, really... a scientist amongst warriors!), and ultimately saved the day.

I will never forget the defiant look in Uhura's face when an Augment slaps her to keep her quiet.... and how Khan understood that she would not be broken by force.

And in the films, consider Dr. Carol Marcus, a brilliant scientist who gave up her "feminine" romance and the life of a waiting wife to pursue her own goals, her own dreams... and to raise her son as she saw best. In the end, Genesis fails because DAVID cheated... not because of anything Dr. Marcus did.

And what of Saavik? An ambitious, determined officer who sticks to her guns no matter who tells her she's wrong (Especially in Wrath of Khan!), who looks up to Spock but isn't falling for him (and that may be why Gene decided to drop the entire "Spock got her knocked up" storyline).

I will agree that Enterprise gave women, especially the Orions, a much greater role... that remains one of my favorite episodes in the series. I think that the Mirror Hoshi deserves mention, as she went beyond being a captain's plaything (like Marlena was in Mirror, Mirror) to the mastermind who outplotted and out-thought everyone to declare herself empress. (Though you could argue that a lot of it involved sleeping around)

I think the franchise has evolved with the times, and that's a very good thing, though I do agree that, at least initially, 7 of 9 was window dressing. The Abrahms Uhura is a far cry from the girl who repeats what Starfleet just ordered.

[Elric71]

This really is a great topic

I can see points on both sides of the argument. Given the climate in the 60's (missed them by 1 year...) any women in any kind of non-"Beaver Cleaver's Mom" role on TV was a rarity. I saw Mr. Roddenberry speak at the high school I went to, before I was actually in high school. My father took me. He talked about a lot of different topics, but he did address Star Trek quite a bit. As he put it, for the two pilots and three seasons of TOS, Gene fought the TV exec's tooth and nail to keep the women in TOS in their respective positions of "authority" in his show. At that time, the only authority women on TV had was in the household or as the mom of the house. To have a woman portrayed as not only an Officer on the bridge, but have that woman be african-american was an absolute afront to society norms of the day. Sad, but that is the way it was then.

When TNG came out, in the late 80's, it was more common to have women as individuals. Take Mary Tyler Moore or even Lavern and Shirly as examples of society accepting that women were completely capable of taking care of themselves and needed no "help from a man!" I think that is why you have three such women in TNG. A tough one, a single mom (tough for other reasons) and a "sex symbol". Regardless of wether it is right or not, then as now, sex sells . I think it was Mr. Roddenberry's attempt to portray what was happening in pop culture at the time. Star Trek has always pushed the envelope as much as the TV exec's would allow. I have no basis for this, but I wouldn't be surprised that Tasha Yar was allowed into the show by the exec's only if Gene included some kind of "Sex Symbol" to offset the tough indipendant female character. Hence you get Deana Troi...

When you move into the 90's, thanks to real life women like Erin Brokovich (not sure if the sp is correct), society had come to accept that women could be strong AND use their sex appeal. Of course, TV would soon follow suit. I think that is why you get Major Kira, the tough as nails XO who could have a feminine side, though not often shown. That is also why I think we got Jadzia Dax. Dax was always sexy, but she could be a major bitch or a klingon warrior if the need arose.

The 90's was also when Voyager started, albeit late in the 90's, so they still had the tough as nails female with the soft side rarely seen in B'lanna Torres. They also tried to get a "cerebral/sexy" female character too in Kes. But the big difference was the Captain. At the time, there were no taboo's anymore when it came to women in society. It was just as common to see a woman as a waitress, an author, or a corporate executive. Society had come a long way since TOS . So having a female Captain was absolutely perfect for Voyager, in my opinion anyway.

I do think that Seven was added and Kes removed mostly because Kes wasn't that sexy. Very cerebral, and kinda innocent, but not really sexy. Seven was added in the 4th season to bring back ratings to the quickly failing UPN. You cannot deny that Seven of Nine was sexy. The thing I liked was that as the last three seasons progressed, Seven got some great character development. The Exec's at UPN could have just had her as a Borg Minx, but they wrote some great stories around her reclaiming her humanity.

I would like to comment on Enterprise, but truthfully, I didn't watch too much of it. . I really should watch it on netflix.

I would like to conclude that all of the above are only my observations. I have very little fact to base it on other than my own observations. Please don't think I am trolling or trying to offend or anything... You have to admit, as a society, we have come a long way in the 40+ years since the first Pilot of some "wagon train to the stars" show called Star Trek.

Q'aplaH!
Aaron

[Sky Falls In Thunder]

Skonn... Uhura's reaction to Joachim's slap was indeed the perfect example of how Gene worked the strength of his female characters in under the Suit Desk Thing... and the current culture's radar. Had to be frustrating for him and the writers like D.C. Fontana to be constantly told to water down this or that female.

Elric, it's worth watching Enterprise when you get the chance. There were some pretty shaky episodes here and there, but some real gems, and some great story arcs as well.

[mark (James Bailey)]

It makes sense that it is nothing more than the Television censors and the studio direction that made these factors stand out. Rodenbery certainly was progressive and didn’t hold back with other so-called taboos of the times and you can really see how he got away with it. First interracial kiss, predigests and stereotypes. I bet he would have done more if he was able to do it.

Even looking at leave it To Beaver from the 50’s you can see the “perfect family” with the mom at home but you can’t ignore the message they are constantly sending about “doing the right thing” or learning from your mistakes. All of the other stuff is just making the people (of the times) relate to the show.

One thing is constant through all of the Star Trecks, is that you really have to be beautiful to be on TV. I could never be on TV

[Questial]

Looking at Uhura's role now instead of through the prism of contextual history is to do Gene and Nichelle Nichols a disservice. Perhaps her position on the bridge is one of a glorified telephone operator. However, to have an African-American as part of an elite bridge crew (no matter the position) and given a regular supporting weekly role was groundbreaking. When Nichelle wanted to leave the series, because as you mentioned, she felt like an operator, it was Martin Luther King, who told her to stay with it because she was a symbol of hope for the civil rights movement.

In addition, Uhura during the Movies became one of the top 5 crewmembers that Kirk relied upon. She was with Kirk when he lost the Enterprise and went back in time. She stood with Kirk when they faced charges for stealing the Enterprise.

I think if you look back at the series, Uhura (when given the opportunity) would always outperform her position as an operator.

My 2 cents.

[Sky Falls In Thunder]

One thing I've loved about many of the books is they took Uhura and made her a genius in cryptography, and her career took her to Starfleet Intelligence. Actually became the head of STI eventually.

In reference to Hoshi, I didn't see her as being "just the switchboard operator." She wasn't military, a scientist, or an explorer. She was a linguist and a teacher, who learned things like programming as she discovered she needed them to do her job. I enjoyed watching her cobble together the universal translator, bit by bit. But she developed through her experiences and overcame her fears, leaving her "comfort zone" as circumstances gave her no choice but to quit or drive on.

[Skonn]

I agree. First, Uhura WAS indeed a brilliant codebreaker, and something we all have failed to mention, she's mentioned as a very skilled computer expert, as well! (In the novels, at least.)

Hoshi, I think, is an example of how Enterprise's characters developed and evolved. Shy, unsure and withdrawn, she toughen up, and became one of the strongest characters on the show. And both her and T'Pol evolved considerably during the series, much more so than Tucker, Mayweather or Phlox!

I would like to add my reccommendation to Enterprise. The Temporal Cold War was convoluted, the Xindi season seemed neverending (much like the Dominion War... at least to me) but there are aspects of that show that are pure gold. We learned about Andorians and Tellarites as never before, we dove deeper into Vulcan culture and philosophy, we saw the founding of the Federation, learned more about the human augments, explored the Orion culture like never before! Their turnaround of the Orion "slave girl" stereotype is a thing of beauty, it was masterfully done. The Enterprise mirror episodes are better than the DS9 ones ever were. Enterprise was starting to get VERY good when it was cancelled... and when I see the concept art for the season 5 ship, I can't help but groan!

http://images.wikia.com/startrek/images/1/16/NX-01_refit_quarter.jpg

She was going to get the TOS warp nacelles and deflector dish!

I truly reccommend the TOS fans to give the show a try, and will make a short episode list, if you want to focus only on those that have an impact in Trek history, or in TOS. If you can watch ONE episode, I reccommend "Bound", season 4, ep. 17.

[Sky Falls In Thunder]

Enterprise had some real gold. Sure, there were some really rocky episodes with some pretty wretched anti-physics. ("riding" a explosion on a piece of metal... Sir Isaac Newton says "we pour you out of your boots now.") But all in all, it was a pretty darn good show. As Skonn mentioned, we got a lot of great background on Andorians, Tellarites, Vulcans, and Orions, (and Augments, of course), but they had a great cast with great chemistry, and some pretty sharp stories. I second the recommendation. And they had some class acts for guest stars like Clancy Brown (THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!") and Andreas Katsulas (Tomalak on STNG and, more notably to me, G'Kar on Babylon 5.)

As a side note, you guys might want to check out Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda The show was plagued by not quite enough budget and studio Suit Desk Things really dropping the ball on it's potential, but it's a fun show with a good cast, and you'll see alternate ideas Roddenberry had for some of the races. The Borg, for one, were quite different and the Augments play a much, much more important role, with their own civilization (The Nietzchians, Homo Sapiens Invictus.) That show had SO much potential that the waste makes me want to cry, but like pizza or green girls, even when it's bad, it's good. I wouldn't run out and buy the series on a whim, but if you can find it streaming or as a rental, give it a shot. I personally loved the quotes at the beginning of each episode.

"Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. Those who fail to learn history correctly - why they are simply doomed."
* Achem Dro'hm, "The Illusion of Histroical Fact", CY 4971


Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Which is a problem.
If you are powerless.
- Drago Musevini, "Manifesto", CY 8433


The soul of the Nietzscheans is this:
We are arrogant. We are vain.
We are manipulative. We are selfish.
And we love our children.
-- Drago Musevini, "Primary Reflections", CY 8428




A couple bits of dialogue:

Tyr Anasazi: What would you like, Jaguar?

Charlemagne Bolivar (Played by James Marsters): The usual. Hundreds of grandchildren, utter domination of known space and the pleasure of hearing that all of my enemies have died in terrible, highly improbable accidents that cannot be connected to me. And you?

Tyr Anasazi: [Laughs] The usual.


and finally

Tyr Anasazi: I have faith in nothing but this - when the universe collapses and dies, there will be three survivors - Tyr Anasazi, the cockroaches, and Dylan Hunt, trying to save the cockroaches.

[moronwmachinegun]

I've posted my bio for my Orion, who is basically an anti-slave girl.

http://tosfleet.guildlaunch.com/users/characters/blog/13777098/9783/character-bio/?gl_user=2812161&char=13777098