TOS most sexist episodes/moments

[jtkirk]

I just finished watching "Who Mourns for Adonais?" & at the beginning there was this dialogue between Kirk & McCoy that had a very sexist remark about a female lieutenant. I realize this was the 1960's, but Trek was supposed to be about the future & equality, no racism, etc., but in a lot of ways TOS was still rooted in it's own era of the 1960's. TOS always seemed to have this narrow minded view of women in the future. It actually makes me chuckle when I hear dialogue like this...

MCCOY: Lieutenant, you look a bit tired this morning.
CAROLYN: Well, I was up all night working on this report, sir.
SCOTT: Well in that case, there's nothing like a wee bit of coffee to get you back in shape. Join me, Carolyn?
CAROLYN: All right, Scotty. Just let me give this to Mister Spock.
KIRK: Bones, could you get that excited over a cup of coffee?
MCCOY: Even from here I can tell his pulse rate's up.
SCOTT: Gentlemen. Come along, my dear.
MCCOY: I'm not sure I like that, Jim.
KIRK: Why, Bones? Scotty's a good man.
MCCOY: And he thinks he's the right man for her, but I'm not sure she thinks he's the right man. On the other hand, she's a woman. All woman. One day she'll find the right man and off she'll go, out of the service.

So, McCoy thinks women are ONLY in the service until the right man comes along? So laughable.

There are so many more examples of sexism in TOS. Share your thoughts, examples here.

 

[maryh]

I don't know that McCoy thinks that of ALL women, but is appears he thinks this of HER.

 

[Christopher]

The whole of "Mudd's Women" is very sexist. If not for Uhura's token presence, you'd think the whole crew was male and hadn't seen a woman in months, considering the way they reacted. And the titular women are portrayed as having no possible purpose in life beyond a domestic or erotic role.

But "The Enemy Within" probably surpasses it in its treatment of Rand. After her attempted rape by Evil Kirk, she's a total doormat, saying to Good Kirk, "I can understand. I don't want to get you into trouble. I wouldn't have even mentioned it!" And then at the end, Spock teases her about her attempted rapist's "interesting qualities." Ye gods!

 

[maryh]

It appears that every woman on the Enterprise wants Pike in Menagerie. He is given 3 choices - a blond, brunette and redhead and all 3 of course want him, or at least fantasize about him. But we are never told his fantasies about them.

 

[Timewalker]

That's 'cause he fantasizes about his horse!

 

[Nerys Myk]

That's 'cause he fantasizes about his horse!

Nah, he likes Princesses and Slave Girls. ( Must be a Star Wars fan)

 

[DevilEyes]

In addition to "The Enemy Within", "Mudd's Women" and "Who Mourns for Adonais", "Wolf in the Fold" is another contender. Spock says that women are much more prone to fear than men, or something to that effect.

 

[Timewalker]

That's 'cause he fantasizes about his horse!

Nah, he likes Princesses and Slave Girls. ( Must be a Star Wars fan)

You're accusing me of being a Star Wars fan? Considering that not one of his fantasies was about Number One or Yeoman Colt - and I'm quite sure Vina wouldn't have known about his horse, I figured it was a fair comment to make.

And since when are there any horses in Star Wars?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Pike, the guy who likes Princesses and Slave Girls, is the Star Wars fan.

 

[Captrek]

The Morg and Eymorg in Spock’s Brain.

Every time Uhura says “Captain, I’m frightened,” or any variation thereon.

The entirety of Turnabout Intruder, obviously.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Well yeah, welcome to the 1960s.

 

[Captrek]

Well yeah, welcome to the 1960s.

Reminds me of Kirk’s description of childish mischief, including such things as “dipping little girls’ curls in inkwells.” I bet that’s really common with 23rd century kids.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I think Captain "pimpin' ain't easy/get the fuck off my bridge" Pike in "The Cage" set the standard. Even worse, the Yeoman was still hot for him.

 

[Sector 7]

The whole 'women cannot be starship captains' idea, while indicative of 1960s sexism, seems to be the most sexist issue from TOS.

 

[MikeH92467]

Despite the occasional false notes, it's worth repeating that Star Trek was ground breaking in it's treatment of women by showing them in positions of authority and by implication as members of the command structure. The "women can't be captains" idea seems to come from a throway line in the last show of the series. As Roddenberry himself noted, he wanted to show complete equality (his idea of it anyway), but while they were writing about the future, they were still dealing with the realities of the present. More than 40 years later it seems grossly unfair to criticize them for not meeting our 21st standards. What they did with the racial, sexual and ethnic issues of the day was definitely as close to the cutting edge of societal attitudes as the realities of network television of that day would allow.

 

[DevilEyes]

More than 40 years later it seems grossly unfair to criticize them for not meeting our 21st standards. What they did with the racial, sexual and ethnic issues of the day was definitely as close to the cutting edge of societal attitudes as the realities of network television of that day would allow.

With racial and ethnic issues, yes, with gender issues, definitely not. Network TV didn't force anyone to insert those lines about women being more prone to fear than men, women naturally being officers only until they find Mr. Right and get married, or remarks to a woman who was almost raped about her attacker having "interesting qualities".

 

[MikeH92467]

More than 40 years later it seems grossly unfair to criticize them for not meeting our 21st standards. What they did with the racial, sexual and ethnic issues of the day was definitely as close to the cutting edge of societal attitudes as the realities of network television of that day would allow.

With racial and ethnic issues, yes, with gender issues, definitely not. Network TV didn't force anyone to insert those lines about women being more prone to fear than men, women naturally being officers only until they find Mr. Right and get married, or remarks to a woman who was almost raped about her attacker having "interesting qualities".

You missed my point. I'm not talking about network TV forcing anyone to do anything. I'm talking about a TV show producer making a deliberate effort to push boundaries in a new direction. The Cage was made in 1964 and showed a strong, brilliant woman as 2nd in Command. That was too great a leap for the network suits, who were paid to know what their audience would accept. Yes, there were cringe worthy moments by today's standards. However, there were numerous examples of gender equality that we completely take for granted today that were entirely new in that day. If you want me to say I think they did a perfect job, I'm not going to. I will say that the cringe worthy moments deserve closer examination and consideration in context of the time and what Roddenberry was trying to do: produce a popular and profitable TV show. He wasn't trying to change the world, although he didn't mind sneaking in his own vision of a better universe when he could.

 

[MANT!]

A career woman in the 1960s America was RARE..in the white collar world,most were expected to stay in the workplace "just long enough to land a good catch" (this according to my mother) and "retire to the life of a housewife" ... So McCoy's comments were appropriate to the standards of the time the show was made in..

In almost all my 60s television series DVD collection, that attitude was pervasive in that period...

But Star Trek WAS groundbreaking in it's own right..
there was a portrayal of a female commander of a squadron of spacecraft.(OK, OK, not Earth..but heck she was on the show)

it was in the 1970s that women were "unchained" if you will to persue something other than traditional female roles...

if one looks you can see a shift in the roles women were portrayed in from the 60s to the 2000s...

example, the show "Police Woman" was groundbreaking...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_Woman_(TV_series)

paving the way to Cagney & Lacy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cagney_%26_Lacey

opening up strong women roles as role models for young girls...

Now we have women astronauts, women heads of state, females as role models and leaders, and Star Trek, though firmly rooted in the 60s, help to show young girls that they didn't have to remain limited by their gender..

Star Trek TOS keeps getting a bum rap from feminists who can't see the HISTORY and the time the show represented.

 

[Christopher]

The Cage was made in 1964 and showed a strong, brilliant woman as 2nd in Command. That was too great a leap for the network suits, who were paid to know what their audience would accept.

That's the way Roddenberry tells it. According to Solow and Justman in Inside Star Trek, the network loved the idea of a female second-in-command, but didn't like the fact that Roddenberry cast his mistress in the role, something that could create a scandal if it got out. They wanted the role recast, but not because of the character's sex.

After all, the same decade gave us strong female protagonists like Emma Peel, Cinnamon Carter, and Agent 99. While sexist assumptions certainly did exist, they didn't preclude the depiction of strong, capable women on television.

 

[jtkirk]

I agree that TOS was groundbreaking in showing authority female characters in Starfleet, especially a black female. As stated above, it did indeed pave the way for other shows to go even further. I do realize it was the 1960's & women were still depicted in relation to that era to an extent...even though it was the future. Women were still fragile creatures who depended a great deal on a man, and although some had high ranking positions, they were depicted as being very weak simpletons.

As someone mentioned, women could not be Captains, perhaps the most sexist aspect of the entire TOS series. But yeah, it was the 60's & it was all a hoot!