With a new year upon us, I decided the least I could resolve for 2019 was to try and finally finish Enterprise. Iâve seen almost all of Season 1 plus a smattering of episodes from the other seasonsâŠ
New episode review up on the new site - part of my 2019 resolution to finally finish Enterprise.Â
Because of the recent issues with Tumblr, I wanted to let you all know Iâve started duplicating the contents of my blog on a self-hosted Wordpress site at trekkiefeminist.com. I made this decision partly because a couple of my posts were blocked - most notably my review of the ENT episode âBound,â but mainly because I fundamentally disagree with Tumblrâs content ban because of the way it attacks what was previously a safe space for marginalized creative communities, particularly queer communities. As Wil Wheaton said, the affects of this policy make it âindefensibleâ [x].
Iâm going to keep my content up here (at least the content Tumblr has decided is âappropriateâ) for the foreseeable future because thereâs something I canât duplicate at the new site - this community. Going back through my archives I find reblogs from so many of you sharing amazing insight about Star Trek and your fan art of adorable queer couples, badass women, and more. I donât have the right to duplicate your work off Tumblr but Iâll try to link back to it from the new site wherever possible.Â
One big benefit of doing this move - which will be a lengthy process involving 5 years of content - is that itâs giving me a chance to make sure my images are more accessible to people with visual disabilities through adding alt-text and descriptions, as well as to fix any outdated content.Â
If you want to check it out, Iâve got about 70 posts up there so far, including the âBoundâ review. Iâve also written three new Enterprise episode reviews which Iâll be posting over the next week (Iâll share the links here too).Â
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns or advice during this transition. I really value your perspectives.Â
Happy 100 Episodes! In celebration, we take a look at fan favorite film Galaxy Quest - Why we love it, why fandom loves it, and what it has to say about Star Trek and Trek fandom. By Grabtharâs Hammer, what an episode! Download Now (right-click and save) ï»ż Hosts: Andi, Grace, Jarrah, and Sue
We're joined by guests Shashank Avvaru and Michelle Zamanian to talk about citizenship, immigration and xenophobia in Star Trek. What does it mean to be a Federation citizen? How did Star Trek portray immigration and xenophobia and how does that relate to events in our world today? Download Now (
Proud of our most recent episode on citizenship, immigration and xenophobia in Star Trek. Check it out!
Do you think that the writers made Trip openly emotional in order to hide sexism in plain sight? Many fans (myself included) awwed at him crying at movies. The last impression we get of him is crying over his daughter's death in Terra Prime (which most of us consider the real finale). This blinds us to some of the ways he's problematic. Plus he doesn't take initiative in relationships, which is coded as feminine (it's ALWAYS a woman who kisses him first).
Thatâs a really interesting point! Itâs certainly possible but Iâd be interested to hear what others think.
I can't stop thinking about "A Fragment Out of Time" and how far fandom and particularly fanfiction with LGBTQIA+ themes and characters have come since 1974.
Learn about the first published K/S fanfic! h/t @themarysue
"The Schizoid Manâ is an early TNG episode about a renowned scientist who decides to transfer his consciousness into Dataâs brain in order to extend his life.
Itâs also an unintentional #MeToo story in space. Hereâs why.
Medical log, Stardate 42437.5. Ira Graves is arguably the greatest human mind in the universe. For years he's lived in near isolation on a remote planet, devoting full time to his research. Eight hours ago, we monitored a message from his assistant, urgently requesting medical aid. I only hope we can reach him in time.
The Enterprise crew is sent on a mission to look into the health of a renowned scientist, Dr. Ira Graves. This guy is a genius (probably a very stable one) and you can tell because he literally named his planet after himself and no one on the Enterprise comments: âHmm. Thatâs a bit much.â
Nope! Instead, Pulaski and Captain Picard seem to agrree this guy is far more valuable than the average human, with Picard instructing the away team to âprotect Gravesâ health at all costs.â
Because of the near-mythic profile heâs established, our heroes permit Graves some pretty gross behaviour.
When the away team (which includes Suzie Plakson as Dr. Selar, the bright light of this episode) arrives on Gravesworld, they meet Dr. Graves and his assistant, Kareen. Kareen is much younger than Graves, having lived alone with him on his planet since her father died when she was very young. There is a very clear power difference between them based on his age and renown, her status as his assistant, and her lack of exposure to other people. However, his attraction to her is treated as romantic.
Troi: His feelings towards you are very warm. He's attracted to you in many ways.
Kareen: Attracted? I know I've felt certain feelings from him...and for him. Had I been older, perhaps we could've been...that's not the way it worked out. And now it's like he's afraid to face me.Â
Graves is also less than respectful of Troi and Selar, the two women on the away team.
Graves to Selar: I will admit, for a doctor you're not a bad looking woman. (to Troi) Well, well, well, what have we got here? Another lovely specimen of womanhood.
Troi: I thought you didn't like people.
Graves: Women aren't people. They're women. (kisses her hand)
Troi: I'm Deanna Troi. It's an honour to meet you, Doctor Graves.
Graves: Yes, of course it is. This is one of the truly great moments of your life.Â
Next week on Star Trek: The Next Generation: our crew goes back in time to save genius director Woody Allen!
It shouldnât be surprising that a man with such incredible ego, who has never been given any reason to doubt he is better than others, and who dehumanizes women should feel justified in dehumanizing a sentient machine in order to further his own needs.
In Dataâs body, Graves ogles women and behaves very unlike Data. It seems to take quite a while for the crew to get really suspicious but when they do finally understand that the situation is out of hand, Troi and Selar have a great exchange with Picard.
Picard: Doctor, what was your impression of Graves?
Selar: He seemed brilliant, egocentric, arrogant, chauvinistic.
Picard: Sound familiar?
Yes! Not just to the Enterprise crew trying to figure out why Dataâs acting oddly, but also to all of us who have witnessed or experienced sexual harassment or assault but who have been ignored or silenced because of the perpetratorâs power and profile.Â
After a time Graves/Data also presents himself to Kareen, assuming sheâll naturally want to live with him forever now that heâs in a younger-looking body.Â
Data: Think of the things I will accomplish over the next thousand years! What? Oh, I know what you're thinking. There is no need to worry. I will create an android body for you, too. We can witness the end of time together. Why are you crying, Kareen? I can love you now. The way I always wanted to. It was not right before. I was too old for you, too weak. Now I can be everything you want me to be.
Kareen: I won't let you put me in a machine. I want to live my life. I won't let you take it away from me. Ira! Ira, you're hurting me!Â
Graves injures Kareenâs hand, then goes to Engineering and knocks La Forge unconscious. But it isnât until he slaps Picard, hurting a white man that is closer to him in status, that he realizes heâs gone too far and decides to leave Dataâs body.
Even after all that, thereâs a sense that weâre supposed to be relieved that Graves transferred his intellect into the Enterprise computer.Â
Itâs hard to imagine this episode being made today, and thatâs a good thing. Itâs hard to watch women in Star Trek have to suck up harassment and romanticize the lechery of a high-profile older man towards a young woman with so much less power than he has.
But we can at least use this episode to add to the discussion, to point out the parallels between Graves and the real-life high-profile men whose behaviours have been ignored or excused. The real-life men with power, whether that be power in a workplace or classroom, in politics or medicine or media.Â
As Sophie Gilbert writes at The Atlantic:
For a long time, most women defined their own sexual harassment and assault in this way: as something unspoken, something private, something to be ashamed of acknowledging. Silence, although understandable, has its cost. A decade ago, I couldnât have conceived of the fact that so many women had experienced sexual coercion or intimidation; now, Iâd be surprised if I could find a single one who hadnât.
What were the systemic issues that facilitated Gravesâ takeover of Dataâs body and subsequent violent behaviour? How might Troi and Selar have reacted differently to Graves in those first scenes on the planet? How might Worf and Data have acted better as allies?
Maybe mulling over these kinds of questions is another way to better understand our current world and how to change it.
Bechdel-Wallace Test:Â Pass (barely) â Troi and Kareen talk about a distress call. During all other interactions between named female characters they are talking about Graves.
Space remains a vast, untamed place, penned in only by the limits of our own imaginations. So why the hell are there so many staircases in space?
Interesting thoughts on wheelchair accessibility in SF, including Star Trek:
Unfortunately, 50 years worth of Federation starship manifestations also means half a century of inaccessibility. The original USS Enterprise bridge has enough steps you could take the equivalent of an aerobics class just trying to get from the turbolift to the Captainâs chair. The same level of inaccessibility goes for both the USS Voyager and USS Discovery, and if youâre a wheelchair user, you better not try to grab an after-shift bottle of bloodwine at Quarkâs Bar unless you plan on dragging yourself up several steps to get there. In fact, the bridge from The Next Generationâs Enterprise is the only one thatâs fully accessible with gentle, sloping ramps.
Of course, some nondisabled humans argue that if a series originally started filming in the 1960s, itâs inevitable that inaccessibility would carry on in todayâs updated versions! (Among other counterarguments, Iâd like to note that Star Trek is supposed to be a utopian paradise. âAll the problems of mankind have been solved,â Gene Roddenberry told Michael Pillar, a screenwriter on Star Trek: Insurrection. âEarth is a paradise.â Contrary to ableist opinion, a utopia is not a world where disability is a problem thatâs been solved; rather, itâs an inevitable expression of genetic variance, and disabled humans are not just welcomed but fully included.)Â
Wesley meets Lakanta, who explains that all things are sacred and has him participate in a spirit quest where he speaks with his late father and ostensibly gains clarity. Despite the later revelation that Lakanta is really the Traveler (and that the palest of aliens therefore adopted the form of a brown-skinned man as a kind of shapeshifting blackface), the interaction with Wesley's 'father' is never referred to or examined again...
By adopting the dressings of a real spiritual practice, the writers present a troubling appropriation that makes little sense within the world presented...
[Later], one of the Natives shoots a Cardassian, and an ugly, violent fight is imminent - and Wesley pulls himself out of time in a freeze-frame as the Traveler reveals himself. In addition to being a great visual moment, it also highlights another aspect of the story, the ramifications for which are not touched upon: Wesley has this ability to remove himself from time and space, and so he can leave anytime he wants to; he never renounces *his* Federation membership. The consequences of his actions will never land solidly upon him, and, though he plans to stay on Dorvan V to learn many things from the people there, it is also clear that he will one day leave and travel elsewhere, and the Natives will be left behind.
âJourneyâs End: The Problem with Aliens in Brownfaceâ by Cait Coker in Outside In Makes It So: 174 New Perspectives on 174 Star Trek TNG Stories by 174 Writers.
This week, the crew examines toxic fan culture and share their experiences, as well as possible causes and what we can all do to change attitudes. Download Now (right-click and save) ï»ż Hosts: Grace, Jarrah, and Sue Editor: Andi
Take a listen to our latest Women at Warp about toxic fan culture.
CW actresses Candice Patton and Ashleigh Murray have one major thing in common. Theyâve both played classic comic book characters, both traditionally portrayed as white, as women of color. And both have had to deal with backlash for it.
âBut, you know,â said Patton, âIf I had to deal with crap online and harassment online so a girl who looks like me, ten years from now, can successfully be on these shows without any of that, then itâs well worth it. I can take it.â
They shouldnât have to take it, but have my massive appreciation for riding out all the cyber harassment and presenting awesome representations. For the rest of us, letâs do what we can to stand with them against the racists and misogynists trying to poison fan culture, to build safer and more respectful spaces.
Iâm a huge fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation, so it was with a certain amount of fangirl glee that I stumbled across this digitized memo from Paramount Studios. The memo (which found its âŠ
In an alternate universe, Rosalind Chao wouldâve been Commander Tasha Yar, the hot-headed and tomboyish head of security. As Trek lore goes, Chao was a favourite for the role until Marina Sirtis auditioned for Troi; Rodenberry then decided to bump Chaoâs casting and move Crosby to Yarâs role. Chao, who later appeared as Keiko OâBrien on ST:TNG and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, wouldâve â I think â revolutionized images of Asian American women in science fiction. An Asian American Yar is tough and no-nonsense, but also struggles with her femininity and sexuality, undermining chances that Chaoâs portrayal wouldâve spun off into a âdragon ladyâ stereotype.
I was just 9 years old when Star Trek: Deep Space Nine premiered, and I didnât take to it immediately. It wasnât the Star Trek I knew, the bright shiny halls of the Enterprise with the gallant crew racing in to save the day. No, this Trek was darker. The characters had sharp edges, and they didnât quite fit together in the harmonious way I was used to. I wasnât sure what to make of it, but I remember watching the pilot episode and thinking to myself, âThat Major Kira character is cool, but why is she so angry? Why canât she just be nicer?â
She wasnât terrified that those around her would stop liking her if she demanded better for herself and her people. She wasnât concerned with fitting in or being nice. Nana Visitorâs excellent role was the first time Iâd ever seen a woman be unapologetically angry on the TV screen. And it wasnât the ugly thing Iâd been taught it was. In fact, it was gorgeous.
areudirty
2087
kianamaiart
origamiaround
