Kira as the only female cast member in Season 7

[Who1]

I read that the reason Ezri Dax was added to the cast was because it was out of the question for Kira to be the only female regular. I have to ask why? It was the last season anyway so who cares? I liked Ezri but I'm sure DS9 would have been fine without her.

I do think it's interesting that there were several recurring male characters such as Nog and Garak who could have been upgraded to regular status to replace Jadzia but there were no female characters available to fill her place. Of course there were recurring female characters but the only ones with any depth were Kai Winn and the Female Changeling and they could never be regular characters.

The optics of only having one female character on the show would have been terrible, especially with Voyager always having 3 at any one time. We've come a long way from just Uhura and sometimes Rand or Chapel.

 

[Nyotarules]

It takes all sorts, if you don’t like it, don’t watch it. There are soup operas, chick lit, Disney cartoons and so on. How many women do you expect on a military installation during wartime? How many women choose military careers although they have the right to do it? I guess they will always be fewer than men.

That's right cos in the Star Trek universe the rest of the Federation lives by the partriarchal traditions of ancient Terran males.

 

[jaime]

That's right cos in the Star Trek universe the rest of the Federation lives by the partriarchal traditions of ancient Terran males.

I dislike both these statements.
Vulcan appears to be a borderline matriarch, yet the armed guards we see are all male. Bajor seems to be more egalitarian with a lean towards more women in positions of power on screen that we see on screen.
Going of to get killed is an aspect of 'patriarchal traditions' that actually favours women (by increasing their chances of survival) on a basic level rather than men, as a group. Once you tie power to military service, then it flip flops a little (see Rome etc.)
Either way, both comments are distasteful and hardly apply to Star Trek, both because of the time they were made in, and their in-story logic.
The federation is egalitarian, starfleet is not primarily a military, and as shown, is likely to give total equality to all genders...it's just easier shorthand for TV when it was made to have male security guards and whotnot, same way it's easier to say the federation is made up of lots of species but cheaper on the make up to show mostly humans aboard enterprise.

 

[Terok Nor]

The optics of only having one female character on the show would have been terrible, especially with Voyager always having 3 at any one time. We've come a long way from just Uhura and sometimes Rand or Chapel.

That's true but it's not a good enough reason to add a new cast member. As it stands Ezri was new but also familiar so it worked out but imagine if Kira had left instead. An all new character arriving for the final season and taking up so much time would have been a gross misuse of time. The writers lucked out with Dax but it could have been a disaster for the final season. I'd rather have just one female cast member and a satisfying conclusion to 7 seasons than shoehorning in an extra cast member for the sake of appearances.

Kira was a brilliant character anyway. Easily good enough to be the only female regular if Ezri had not joined.

 

[Nyotarules]

I dislike both these statements.
Vulcan appears to be a borderline matriarch, yet the armed guards we see are all male. Bajor seems to be more egalitarian with a lean towards more women in positions of power on screen that we see on screen.
Going of to get killed is an aspect of 'patriarchal traditions' that actually favours women (by increasing their chances of survival) on a basic level rather than men, as a group. Once you tie power to military service, then it flip flops a little (see Rome etc.)
Either way, both comments are distasteful and hardly apply to Star Trek, both because of the time they were made in, and their in-story logic.
The federation is egalitarian, starfleet is not primarily a military, and as shown, is likely to give total equality to all genders...it's just easier shorthand for TV when it was made to have male security guards and whotnot, same way it's easier to say the federation is made up of lots of species but cheaper on the make up to show mostly humans aboard enterprise.

Sarcasm not your friend?