Captain Pike's weird comment about "women on the bridge"

[Tim Thomason]

And Captain Pike's blatant misogyny is why Starfleet banned all future travel to Talos IV (under penalty of death) and refused to give Pike any reasonable means of communication after his "accident".

I'm just kidding. We should all ignore the line. Pike was a stand-up guy otherwise. Ignoring, also, his wish to retire as a sex slaver. ... Maybe that line isn't so bad afterall.

 

[Timo]

To insist on any mix of genders on the bridge (be it 0/100,50/50 or anything in between) is of course sexist. Perhaps Pike used to run a non-sexist ship, meaning he happened to only have men on the bridge - but the casualties suffered in the Rigel VII debacle meant suddenly bringing a bunch of women there, and this was a first for the rookie skipper.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[urbandefault]

It was 1964. Have you seen Mad Men?

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Perhaps he's finding it hard to get used to being followed by a woman - yeomen are to see to the captain's needs and be there in case he wants them for something. Pike had gotten used to his former yeoman's habits and vice versa. Always jarring to expect one and see another.

Number One has a different air about her - that is, she's not this young, eager kid. She's a cool, calm, staid person. So she is different.

 

[rRico]

It was 1964. Have you seen Mad Men?

"It was 1964. The name of the place: Desilu Studios."

 

[Kor]

It was 1964. Have you seen Mad Men?

The greatest show in the history of television.

Kor

 

[rRico]

The greatest show in the history of television.

Kor

Interior decorating style aside, it's pretty boring.

 

[Kor]

Interior decorating style aside, it's pretty boring.

I've heard that criticism before, and I disagree. Sure, it has a slower pace and the tone is very "slice of life." But that's what makes it different from typical mainstream shows, and more artistic. It's a show that the viewer has to really pay attention to, which I suppose is something that people are not used to these days, as everything else is turning into a hectic flash-bang joyride that doesn't let the viewer stop and smell the roses.

Kor

 

[borgboy]

The intention of the line seems to be that women being able to work on the bridge is a new thing.
I choose to interpret that Pike just happened not to have women on the bridge (except for Number One who doesn't count to him) until recently.
Not that it was deliberate sexism, just a coincidence that the people working there were all men (except Number One) and the change is recent. That it bothers him a bit is his issue but doesn't reflect that sexism is rampant in Starfleet.

 

[Kor]

Maybe it was just some inside joke on Pike's part.

Kor

 

[Tim Thomason]

PIKE: Lieutenant.
ALDEN: Yes, sir.
PIKE: I thought I told you that when I'm on the bridge...
ALDEN: But you wanted the communiques by 0500. It's 0500 now, sir.
PIKE: Oh, I see. Thank you.
ONE: He's replacing your former communications officer, sir.
PIKE: He does a good job, all right. It's just that I can't get used to having a black guy on the bridge.

 

[Lance]

It's a badly written line meant to cue the audience in on the fact that women and men are serving together on a ship — which back then was Talos-shattering.

I understand the real-life context of the line. But it still seems weird given that not a minute before he says it, we see a second woman officer manning one of the stations. So it isn't even like Number One and Colt are the only women on the bridge at that point in time....

 

[Ssosmcin]

Having Number One pout because she isn't on the landing party is pretty unenlightened as well.

PIKE: Lieutenant.
ALDEN: Yes, sir.
PIKE: I thought I told you that when I'm on the bridge...
ALDEN: But you wanted the communiques by 0500. It's 0500 now, sir.
PIKE: Oh, I see. Thank you.
ONE: He's replacing your former communications officer, sir.
PIKE: He does a good job, all right. It's just that I can't get used to having a black guy on the bridge.

In The Cage, this is pretty damned true. It's lily white on the Enterprise.

 

[The Old Mixer]

PIKE: Lieutenant.
ALDEN: Yes, sir.
PIKE: I thought I told you that when I'm on the bridge...
ALDEN: But you wanted the communiques by 0500. It's 0500 now, sir.
PIKE: Oh, I see. Thank you.
ONE: He's replacing your former communications officer, sir.
PIKE: He does a good job, all right. It's just that I can't get used to having a black guy on the bridge.

Only they wouldn't have said "black guy" then....

 

[locutus101]

Only they wouldn't have said "black guy" then....

I think they said "colored man" back then.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I was thinking of a different one...it was used as the respectable term back then, but has since fallen out of favor. Abraham Lincoln uses a female variant of it in "The Savage Curtain".

 

[locutus101]

I was thinking of a different one...it was used as the respectable term back then, but has since fallen out of favor. Abraham Lincoln uses a female variant of it in "The Savage Curtain".

Yes, I know what you mean.

 

[Kor]

Having Number One pout because she isn't on the landing party is pretty unenlightened as well.



In The Cage, this is pretty damned true. It's lily white on the Enterprise.

Except for the Asian transporter technician.

Kor

 

[Ssosmcin]

Yeah, forgot about him. With the disappearing glasses.

 

[locutus101]

Except for the Asian transporter technician.

Kor

People rarely look at the transporter guy.