At 10:17 10-11-97 -0500, you wrote:
>I was planning on posting something on this, but hadn't gotten around to it.
>TV Guide has really just stepped on my nerves! Dax and Seven-of-Nine have
>been singled out as the new "women of Star Trek", women who demand to be
>taken seriously, who can hold their own, who aren't caregivers and nurturers,
>but warriors and scientists and kick-a#@ babes. Which is all true, and great
>even, except that Dax and Seven are both not entirely themselves... They
>have
>both been altered in some way to make them the super-folks that they are.
>So, the question is, why are Cyborgs and hybrids so sexy? Plain old fully
>B'joran
>warrior mothers don't cut it anymore? Half Klingon warrior engineers?
You expected a fully human woman to be an engineer on Star Trek? Dream on.
Dax was the worst example that TVGuide could have given. I like her but
that is probably just visceral and shallow of me. However, she is male in
gender, or perhaps 'mental sex' is a better phrase. She is very nearly a
satire. Captain Sisko still addresses her as "Old Man" to remind us of her
nature. Is the message that a woman has to be guided by an internal and
worldly wise male to be truly strong? Or is she a parody, mixed message, or
simply a badly-conceived character?
B'Lanna(sp?) Torres was the center of a ridiculous story in which the nasty
species that harvested organs for their survival performed genetic
experiments on her. When their experiments caused her to split into two
separate organisms (please standby for suspension of disbelief here), her
genes also manufactured Klingon warrior clothing for her. Amazing! I would
not have guessed that humanoid clothing grew genetically, but hey! what do
I know? The point of that episode was muddled though I think it did not
show B'Lanna as inherently strong. Her human side was simpering. If anyone
remembers that episode, please comment. I thought it was one of ST's
dumbest ever, right down there with the Binar species walking around with
RAM buffers (ST:TNG) and other silliness. Sorry I'm a tech-writer for a
software company. I notice stuff like that--it's an occupational hazard.
TVGuide quotes the nearly-Supermodel Seven of Nine as saying that it was
her idea to wear four-inch heels. I didn't understand her stated reason for
that though it seemed somehow fashion-related. It went right by me. What's
next in the future? Alien races with micro-miniskirts and beehive hairdo's
who are hopelessly stupid? Oops, I forgot. The original ST already did
that. The women had to put on a helmet of knowledge and then wire a male
brain (courtesy of Spock) to their computer in order to survive. Well,
there you go. Dax, B'lanna, and Seven of Nine: ST's model of the woman of
the future. ST has progressed from the 60's? Beyond substituting pants for
minis, I'd say not in essence.
Kira, on the other hand, is real to me. She is strong, spiritual, a
complete person. My opinion only.
I'm new to this list so if this is old territory, please forgive me. Thanks
:-)
Cary
~~~~~~~~
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