Man v Bear v Star Trek TOS
To go where no man has gone before says it all ...
There is a lot going on in my life just now, and that’s an understatement. But I have a few thoughts to share.
Fifty years ago I graduated from high school, and as per Lakeside tradition many of us from the class of 1974 gathered to lead the procession of students at this year’s commencement. I wasn’t going to do it, but the school did provide a nice lunch and I was reminded by a friend that there was, in fact, exactly one chance to do this. So off I went.
There were gatherings all weekend, and it is always fun to see people I’ve known since I was a teenager, but also kind of exhausting now that I’m so dang old.
One of the stand-out moments of the dinners, receptions, and events was when one woman, a wife of a classmate, had us all play Man v Bear, and true to the norm all of the women said we would rather meet a bear than a single man on a path in the wilderness. Also most of the men were a bit bewildered. They seemed to not remember that until we arrived in 1971 Lakeside had been an all boys school. In fact, it was not until this period that a number of colleges and prep schools began to admit female students.
Curiously enough I’ve been watching old Star Trek TV shows. My son made them available to stream on his plex server.
Quick takeaways - Uhura is the only female who has an actual job - although not a lot of lines. All the other women in star fleet mostly exist to hand men things to sign, or bring coffee. Women on other planets often wear outfits in danger of falling off. There is an occasional specialist, shot with a soft lens and introduced with sexy music, who will fall for a guest star. Still for most part, their ultimate goal is to fall in love and get married. In ‘Metamorphosis’ a woman is introduced as an ambassador, however she ends up pining that while she is good at her job, she has never been in love. Long story, but she ends up joining with an alien, and staying on a lonely planet with the man she now loves.
And when a cast member was inserted just to be the girl in the group, she finds she loses her job to free up Kirk for other romances.
This quick look back into the time of my childhood is eye-opening. Yes, we were trained to find a man and change our name but also to fear them. We were always reminded to never go out alone after dark, but at the same time we were often also told that if we worked hard enough we too could do anything. Except not really. The paradox of the two ‘truths’ left me feeling gas-lighted.
Also notable about the mid century view of the future: the computers are boxes with unlabeled blinking lights, there is no input or output mechanism save voice; all the screens have boxes for a picture tube; Spock often looks below his console to fix something and is seen with sparking wires and a tiny soldering iron; McCeoy treats people with plastic spray bottles in the first few episodes, and does surgery with no sign of any sterile procedures; physics is largely ignored, we can see enemy ships traveling at warp speed. Perhaps most audacious of all - most aliens are humanoids and speak English. As a Klingon says in Star Trek VI - Even the very name humanoid is racist.
Kirk often spouts platitudes. He cries out that men cannot live in slavery (erasing the civil war I guess) and that humans need challenges to survive and prosper. Of course, when all else fails he tries to seduce the alien babe or punch a ‘him’ out. More than once they make computers burst in to smoke and flames by saying things like - Everything I say is a lie. I am lying.
Kirk also declares upon finding that an alien speaks with a woman’s voice through the universal translator - that Spock has just adjusted with his trusty wood burner - that being either male or female is universal. Ahhh … NO.
No to that, and no to so much else that was seen as obviously true in the America I grew up in. Just no.
And while a lot has changed, a lot more needs to change before I’d rather meet a man in the woods than a bear.
Speaking of change — I’ve been rearranging my house, and repainting! So I’ve been busy. That will continue, and maybe I’ll get back to making some more art after July. Maybe the knitting I’ve been doing while watching Star Trek counts for something.
Big change on the way. Details at 11.
as always,
Ann
June 17, 2024
p.s. A note on star trek computers — maybe they foresaw Alexia and Siri, but strange there are no keyboards or print outs. They talk to the computer and she answers back and can show pictures - that’s it.
And yes, they often have coffee in little paper cups while on the bridge that a yeoman (a woman) brings them on a tray. I found that really silly. Also big hair with lots of hair spray is a thing. Even Checkoff wears a wig in the first few shows while his hair is growing to Monkee length. Spock’s hair has been compared to the dramatic Vidal Sassoon cut made popular at the time.
Real Space News -The Voyagers are still active!! Check here
A note on bears and men - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/study-counts-64000-pregnancies-from-rape-in-states-that-enacted-abortion-bans-post-roe
Also my copy editor is on vacation so - forgive any typos and lame punctuation. A shout out to my pal Linda who has been helping me these last almost two years.
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