I was watching the Sci-Fi channel the other day, and the TOS episode "Balance of Terror" was on. It was the first time I had seen this episode. I haven't seen many TOS episode, and I have barely seen any all the way through, and for the most part I don't really pay too much attention to the episodes when they're on (I know, I'm a horrible trek fan...but the campiness has always been too much for me to handle...though I love the TOS movies). In any case, I heard a lot of good stuff about this episode, so I decided to really pay attention to it..and man did I notice the sexism of the women in it! Every single female officer had the low cut dress on, and what looked like push-up bras...that or they all had decent sized chests. In addition, all had thick blue eye shadow on, and had very "protect me strong burly man" looks on their faces (you know what I'm talking about...that innocent/helpless look). I was really taken aback by how the women were portrayed as week and as sex objects...I never realized how obvious it was.
I'm not trying to defend the blatant sexism in the recent treks (aka 7of9 and T'Pol) but Voyager and Enterprise are definitely not the first Star Trek's to portray women in this way.
Now, I know what you all are going to say, TOS was created in the 60's, women were not seen in the same way as they are now. That is very true, and thus, the portrayal of women in TOS was much more acceptable back then...just the fact that there were women on the ship at all (one of the main characters was a women, and black!) was a pretty big deal. So, in a sense, TOS pushed the envelope here (as it did with many other topics...G-d I wish Star Trek still did that). At the same time, however, it still portrayed women under the framework of the time in which is was created.
This brings us to TNG. Created in the 80's, shortly after the Women's Movement really began to take off. The women in TNG all wore the same uniform as the men, and were definitely seen as equals (for the most part). There was, however still some women on the show solely for the purpose of being a sex symbol...mainly Deanna Troi. If you look at her outfit (with the low cut top...showing more boobs than 7of9 or T'Pol have ever shown), and the way she was portrayed as ships counselor, she was definitely given a stereotypical women's role, as the sex symbol (she has even said that's what she was at first...in one of her interviews on TNN when TNG first started airing on it). Now, as time went by on the series, she definitely took on a more serious role, and even changed her uniform to match that. These changes definitely reflected a maturing of TNG as a whole (after Roddenbery left actually) and a maturing of the nation itself.
This now leads us to DS9, which, in my opinion, is the best to overcome the sexation of women. You have to women main characters, both very strong in personality, one very high ranking in command, and another one into the sciences, which for a very long time was considered (and still is considered by many people) as field for men. The reasons for this are two fold, the writing staff was very mature, and didn't feel the need to have a sex symbol on the show (not that Kira or Dax weren't sexy...or seen as sex symbols, they just weren't portrayed as such). In addition, during the mid 90's, there wasn't as much sexation of women as a whole. I don't have any specific sources to prove this, and I could very well be wrong, as i was only 11 at the time DS9 came out. But from what I can remember, for the most part, women weren't portrayed as sex symbols...as much as they had been in the 60's, 70's and 80's. In the sense, DS9 is the best out of the 5 trek series, as it did a very good job not using women for sex purposes.
This brings us to Voyager...the infamous Voyager. Started out with such potential, what the hell happened?? Well, I'm not gonna get into that, that's for a different post. Voyager stared out doing a really good job portraying women, with, for the first time a strong women Captain, a women engineer who was very independent, and Kes...who didn't really have any important traits one way or another (though she did have the role of a nurse for a while, which is usually considered to be a women's job). however, this all changed with the introduction of Seven of Nine. Now 7 of 9 was a clear ploy to boost ratings, and bring in some of those young males, and for a time it did work. Her introduction also co-incided with a change in the way women were portrayed in this country (and maybe the world...who knows) as a whole. Again, I have no proof, just my own memories. She was introduced at the beginning of Season 4, in Sept of '97. From my memory this is also when MTV started to become very much based around sex...though it kinda always was, and when the majority of new shows and existing shows featured more and more sex subjects. This increase in sexism, also caused a change in the way women were portrayed...as sex objects. Why this down hill turn, I have no idea...but it is definitely there. While I don't agree with portraying women as sex symbols, the fact that there was one on Voyager isn't really surprising given the way women were being portrayed in the media at the time...and the fact that it was a good ratings boost. In addition, while 7 of 9 did wear a nice cat suit, she was never portrayed as being stupid or dumb. In fact, she was constantly being portrayed as being very smart, and very strong. So, in her portrayal at least, she wasn't just a sex symbol.
Finally, this brings us to Enterprise. The sexism in he country is at an all time high from what I can remember. Just look at all the show on TV. you've got dating shows left and right, all with gorgeous women (and usually gorgeous men) on them. MTV has become based solely around sex, and beautiful women. The majority of new shows coming out have at least one sexy female star. Overall, women are actually seen more as sex symbols now than there were back in the 80's. Enterprise, in a sense reflects upon this with T'Pol. However, even T'Pol isn't that bad. Sure, like 7 of 9 she wears a skin tight cat suit, but she is the science officer, a very un-female role, and she is somewhat independent. I will admit, that there have been some blatant episodes were T'Pol's sexiness (especially her chest) are presented rather poorly...for the most part her characters isn't based solely around being a sex symbol (though that is a big part of it).
In conclusion, comparing the current times with that of the mid-late 60's when TOS was on the air, T'Pol's portrayal is no worse and no better than the women characters from TOS. Now, I'm not saying this is necessarily a good thing...I do wish B&B could get over their juvenile attachment to sex. But this is nothing new to Star Trek as I have shown. IN fact, the only show that seemed to really overcome this was DS9, and the later seasons of TNG. Overall, Star Trek still does a pretty good job of portraying women. Could it do better? Hell yes, but perhaps B&B will grow up in the upcoming seasons, and things will change (though, even though I see the potential in Enterprise, I highly doubt it).
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“People who are willing to give up their liberty for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
-Benjamin Franklin
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