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

[Lance]

Always found this strange.

Pike talks about how he "can't get used to having a woman on the bridge."

Admittedly he could be talking specifically about Colt (it's implied his previous Yeoman was a man.) And he throws Number One a bone with "You're different, of course".

But only a few seconds earlier we see this officer manning one of the stations:

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/0x00/thecage058.jpg

So there are two women on Pike's bridge. Three, counting Colt.

What is he talking about?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Always found this strange.

Pike talks about how he "can't get used to having a woman on the bridge."

Admittedly he could be talking specifically about Colt (it's implied his previous Yeoman was a man.) And he throws Number One a bone with "You're different, of course".

But only a few seconds earlier we see this officer manning one of the stations:

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/0x00/thecage058.jpg

So there are two women on Pike's bridge. Three, counting Colt.

What is he talking about?

Head injury during the fight on Rigel VII.

 

[φ of π]

I presume the women had trouble getting used to having an idiot for a captain.

 

[Tim Thomason]

Always found this strange.

Pike talks about how he "can't get used to having a woman on the bridge."

Admittedly he could be talking specifically about Colt (it's implied his previous Yeoman was a man.) And he throws Number One a bone with "You're different, of course".

But only a few seconds earlier we see this officer manning one of the stations:

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/0x00/thecage058.jpg

So there are two women on Pike's bridge. Three, counting Colt.

What is he talking about?

She's also different, of course.

Pike has some pretty exacting standards when it comes to defining women.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

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.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Was this from How I Met Your Mother?

Wedding rings are like the One Ring from Lord of the Rings.

You put them on, and single men can't see you any more.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Since when was sexism consistent?

 

[Guy Gardener]

It's enough of a clue, to suggest that Number One might have been transitioning.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

It might be the most outdated line of dialogue in the whole franchise. It reflects almost a World War II mentality, like Operation Petticoat or something.

It implies that women in the space service are a new development, and Pike isn't over the shock yet. But that wouldn't explain how Number One had time to become such a senior officer in the line of command.

This is especially unfortunate in light of some sci-fi that's much older, and that portrays women as having made a lot more progress. I don't have examples off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are some cases of women's equality in vintage sci-fi that greatly pre-dates "The Cage."

 

[dahj]

But only a few seconds earlier we see this officer manning one of the stations:
http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/0x00/thecage058.jpg

She's clearly a Klingon.
He only meant human women.
And only gingers.
Named Colt.

 

[Green Shirt]

It might be the most outdated line of dialogue in the whole franchise.

Its similar to Spock's reply to Parmen's wife in Plato's Stepchildren when she asked him to guess her age. He snidely replied "35" as if it were an insult. Very reminiscent of the 1960s attitude toward age.

 

[Warped9]

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.

This.

And it's already contradicted by the presence of Number One and another unnamed female crewman.

One coukd interpret the line simply referring specifically to Colt given her obvious earnestness and often being underfoot. And that Pike might find her personally distracting in a way other female officers are not.

Later we see Kirk notices Janice Rand, but he isn't unduly distracted by her and she is much more professional in behaviour than Colt. The writing and execution is handled much better than the Pike/Colt attempt.

 

[locutus101]

Always found this strange.

Pike talks about how he "can't get used to having a woman on the bridge."

Admittedly he could be talking specifically about Colt (it's implied his previous Yeoman was a man.) And he throws Number One a bone with "You're different, of course".

But only a few seconds earlier we see this officer manning one of the stations:

http://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/0x00/thecage058.jpg

So there are two women on Pike's bridge. Three, counting Colt.

What is he talking about?

Sounds like a misogynistic pig to me.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Roddenberry (who wrote "The Cage") liked to paint himself as a champion of the women's movement, but he really wasn't one, as a writer or a producer. A lot of shows back then were more advanced than Star Trek on this subject, and I'd like to think a lot of producers were less eager to exploit actresses off camera.

 

[Paradise City]

It's the Western sensibility that intrudes here. They can't totally free themselves of the idea that Hunter isn't a leading man in a Western. So we see this clunky comic relief scene of a hard bitten, head cattle rancher Clint Eastwood type (or whatever) stoically fumbling over emerging trends in the modern world.

 

[psCargile]

He's used to seeing women on a pole.

 

[NaughtyTrekkie]

maybe in 23rd century they refer people in base of the gender a person recognizes in.
Number One was a woman identifying as a man

 

[locutus101]

maybe in 23rd century they refer people in base of the gender a person recognizes in.
Number One was a woman identifying as a man

In what way?

 

[Kor]

It might be the most outdated line of dialogue in the whole franchise. It reflects almost a World War II mentality, like Operation Petticoat or something.

It implies that women in the space service are a new development, and Pike isn't over the shock yet. But that wouldn't explain how Number One had time to become such a senior officer in the line of command.

This is especially unfortunate in light of some sci-fi that's much older, and that portrays women as having made a lot more progress. I don't have examples off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are some cases of women's equality in vintage sci-fi that greatly pre-dates "The Cage."

Literary sci fi has always been ahead of the curve in comparison to TV and movies.

Kor

 

[Ronald Held]

My interpretation is that Pike is uncomfortable with Colt, not Number One, or the other woman.