"Yeah, right. That's why she's seen often sprawled across her console during ship shaking scenes, displaying ample amounts of leg in every scene even if she has no dialogue, trying to flirt with Spock in an early episode, and wears a bare midriff outfit in "Mirror, Mirror". To show how smart and capable she was."
ST has a very troubled history in how it portrays women. The word "hypocritical" comes to mind. Would Nichols have won the role if she had not been beautiful? Probably not. Does ST use her looks to objectify her frequently? Undeniably. My contention was that she actually has a character (Uhuru) who has a brain and a personality and isn't solely on set to be fantasized about. However, I should have mentioned her character was different from that of the other crewmembers.