Twelve pages of this conversation, and I still feel like it's been avoiding the issue, rather than dealing with it.
First of all, to be completely dismissive of the complaints regarding the depiction of women in science fiction or Hollywood films is to be closing your eyes to the actual causes and effects of socialization that take place in our world. You can pretend that the media has no effect whatsoever on women's feelings towards their body image, role in society, and expectations, but you can also pretend the sky is green - doesn't make it true. Of COURSE the depiction of women in mass media has an effect on how people think of themselves and others. And don't forget that, not only does it harm how women see themselves; it also strongly effects how men see women. Some evidence to support that last claim can be found in this thread alone.
I am a parent of two young girls, and I'm telling you, as a parent, I'm terrified of the pressures my girls will have to face. Focusing in on whether Alice Eve has appropriately realistic body measurements is completely missing the point - the problems are far more wide-ranging than that. If there is any parent of a girl on this thread, I guarantee they will sympathize with my feelings. Boys have it EASY, guys. Go to the toy store, any toy store, and compare the boy's aisle to the girl's aisle. Go to McDonald's and order a happy meal. Watch any Hollywood blockbuster, and ask yourself what role models girls have to look up to from these movies. Ask yourself what roles they play.
Men, in all of Western media, are permitted te be any number of different kinds of people - they can be physically strong, or highly intelligent, or smart and nerdy, or even fat and funny - whether, as a boy, you are funny, or strong, or intelligent, or handsome, you have many role models to choose from. If you're fat and ugly and unfunny, you've got a lack of role models, yes, but there are a large variety of options for boys to look at and say, "Gee, I want to be like that." Just to give you a personal example: as a kid, I looked up to Captain Picard, an old, bald, Shakespearian-spouting man. I was lucky that, as a book nerd, and as a very small and average-looking guy, I still could find a role model to present a set of positive values and expectations for me.
As a girl, you're fucked. What role models do you have? What lessons do you learn? You can be the object of desire for any number of men! You can wear skin-tight outfits, be super-thin, and learn some martial art! Even if you are smart, say a scientist, you better still be cute and sexy and coy! The expectations and values and role models offered for girls and young women in our mass media are limited, and frankly, appalling.
Now - is it any particular company's job to enable girls to feel more positive about their roles in life? Is it any company's job to treat women with the same respect, to offer them images of the same kinds of opportunities, as they do men? Well, no, I suppose not. I suppose McDonalds (owned by men), and every single toy company (all owned by men), and every major Hollywood studio (all run by men) have no obligation to be equitable, or to offer healthy and positive images to people, or to give a crap whatsoever about furthering justice and equality in the world. Fair enough. I don't expect Michael Bay to treat women as if they're people or anything other than bodies with boobs that young boys can jack off to on the internet.
But Star Trek? Isn't that, sort of, their selling point? Or, it used to be, anyway. In the world of filmed or televised science fiction, post-Dana Scully, post-Kira Nerys, post-President Rosyln, shouldn't Star Trek be, I dunno, trying to continue the job of creating strong, fully developed female human beings as characters that other science fiction writers and producers with more guts and imagination have already begun? I expect more from Star Trek than a rehash of appalling gender roles from the 60's.
I'm just saying, ultimately, that I agree, Star Trek, as a franchise, doesn't have any particular obligation to be smart, or fair, or imaginative, or courageous, regarding how they depict women in their movies. But considering the path they chose for this movie, I think they should be mildly ashamed of themselves. Dr. Marcus, the strong presence from Wrath of Khan, has been reduced to a visual gag regarding her sexy body, and Uhura has been reduced to being the whiny, inconvenient girlfriend of one of the strong, manly heroes. Yuck. They absolutely should be ashamed of themselves.
