Agency of Female Characters

It's better to have an "expert" on a subject accompany you than give your usual sidekick a big stack of psychology texts on memory tapes and say, "Here, read up on these before we arrive tomorrow."

 

That's a terrible example considering how often Kirk, Spock, and McCoy went on landing party duty despite being nominally qualified. In fact, Rand might have studied psychology before signing on. She's not a medical doctor but we know little about her qualifications.

Noel is a favourite of mine too but this episode could have drawn a complicated line under the frisson between Kirk and Rand that could have freed her up as a character. "Do you want me to transfer Captain? After what he did to you... It might be hard to work so close to me on the bridge. Those feelings he implanted ...." "No Janice, I don't want you to transfer off the ship. I think I know my own feelings..." "But how can you... Sir? There's always going to be a nagging doubt... that that what you feel ... that none of it is real." [minces out of quarters leaving Kirk looking pained]. "Or just a fantasy. " Cue music. ;-p

 

Not sure if I'd have wanted Rand in the episode more than Noel as Marianna Hill was great in the role! They should have kept Rand a little longer though definitely!
JB

 

Rand could/should have played the yeoman role in "Shore Leave" and "Squire of Gothos" but they wrote the parts for infatuated girls. Rand seemed too mature for the yeoman roles they were writing.

 

The way they treat Ross in Squire is appalling. She seems to be almost completely devoid of any intellect. Some of the most successful spies in history were women but Ross just smiles and dances with the alien without asking him even a few simple questions.

I think using younger, infatuated, air headed yeomen detracted from their contribution but there are no guarantees that Rand would have been more active. Rand was due to have quite an active role in the first act of City on the Edge of Forever but that certainly didn't translate to a beefy role for Uhura. I suspect the powers that be were never going to deliver any decent active parts for Rand.

I actually think that the yeoman role was rarely used wisely. The role in Miri made less sense than would have, for example, being present at Kirk's or Spock's court martials, Kirk's competency hearing, or accompanying Kirk on diplomatic missions (like Troi did for Kirk in TNG season one). Many of the yeoman appearances should have just been female security guards. Chapel, as med tech support and a trained biologist, would have made more sense in some episodes.

 

Well Barbara Anderson was a ringer for Carolyn Nelson from The Deadly Years I thought...
JB

 

The actress was 21 at the time of filming, the same age as Patricia McNulty, who played fresh-faced 17 year old Tina Lawton in Charlie X. So maybe Ross was a spacestruck teen too.

 

Maybe but Chekov was barely older than a spacestruck teen and he got to do loads of stuff!

 

And DeSalle acted like a boofhead in Gothos. It would have neem interesting if DeSalle had been a female.
I suppose I'm being a bit unfair on Season 1 TOS. The Yeoman in A Taste of Armageddon, Operation Annihilate and Galileo 7 were reasonably professional.

 

He's an officer who has undergone officer training. While enlisted yeomen might undergo basic protocol and self-defense training, those who are young, untested in real battle, etc, may still be naive. Or handsome fellas can be their weakness. They're no less Human just because they signed up to keep records and notes on a starship.

 

I think this highlights the problem, since the official line was that everyone on board is a trained astronaut. Yeoman Colt had a line that was cut attesting to this before beaming down. It's true that officers have more extensive scientific and tactical training with degree level training in several areas, while non commissioned crew would just have broad technical, science, and security training so in that respect , they don't sign on to do administration, they sign on to be astronauts and are assigned administration duties . Rand was most likely a petty officer, particularly as she is seen bossing around junior crew, so she would have been quite experienced, certainly able to help fix the galileo or lead a security team in City. The yeomen still under performed based on their official remit imo .