This thread is a really bizarre example of a thread that got derailed... in the opening post! It's supposed to be about the conflict on TNG, but instead it's turned into the OP thrashing DS9! 
And now we've started discussing the quality of female characters. All right then...
(Why should an immortal alien being speak to a human of the 24th century using lame cliches of the 20th century, I have no idea.)
You know that what is or isn't feminine is a subjective matter? For instance - please tell me, what is so specifically feminine about Seven of Nine? Is it her robotic monotone voice? Is it the way she uses the words "efficient" in every second sentence? The way he asked Harry "Do you wish to copulate?" in the same robotic monotone? Seven does not act angry and does not 'swagger' not because she's this incredibly feminine woman, it's because she's an ex-Borg, and she acts like it. Borg do not act angry, do not shout, and do not 'swagger'. Seven didn't even have an idea how to be 'feminine' in a conventional sense, the first time she tried to dance with a man she nearly ripped his arm out. Not her fault, just like Kira being born on an occupied Bajor was not her fault, just the way it was.
Unless by Seven being 'feminine' you just mean that she's in a catsuit? Which is hardly a result of Seven trying to dress up - she certainly would not have - but of TPTB trying to raise VOY's ratings. Which brings me to one of the things I love about DS9's treatment of its female characters. On DS9, women could be sexy without being blatantly sexualized. The only women who wore blatantly revealing clothes were the Dabo girls, which made sense in-universe, unlike an ex-Borg or a Vulcan wearing a catsuit in their every day life while they're doing their job. With Seven of Nine (and later T'Pol), it just felt like the show was trying a bit too hard. I mean, it's nice to have attractive people on screen, but this felt like the show was trying to point out: "Look! She's sexy! She has great body! Look at her boobs and ass! She's a sex symbol of the show, get it? Now drool over her!" Geez, we get it, you think you could have been a bit more subtle?
Kira's vulnerabilities were wonderfully portrayed, both through Nana Visitor's acting and through great writing - she was IMO one of the characters with the best development in all of Trek. I certainly felt for the character, empathized with her and followed her journey through all 7 seasons. And what a journey it was.
What is that "motherly warmth" of Janeway that you speak of? The only person she ever acted motherly to was Seven. Tuvok was a friend she knew from before, and Chakotay was a close friend she sometimes flirted with... and to the rest of the crew she just treated like a captain treats his crew, she was no more "motherly" to them than Picard, Sisko or Archer were to their crews... The only reason people call her "motherly" is because she is a woman. And a woman who is an authority figure over 40 - oh well, then she has to be "motherly"! Unless by "motherly" you mean a "shut up, kids, momma knows best" attitude. You're telling me that Jadzia is smug, but Janeway is not? Janeway almost always had that smug little smile and "my way or the highway" attitude. Of course, the writers helped her by almost never letting anyone in the crew stand up to her (except for Seven in season 4 and 5), and when her XO would do it (which was rare), she would normally completely disregard his opinion. And as for "bitchy", I don't know, how about threatening to murder - and in fact, nearly murdering - a member of the Equinox crew during 'interrogation"? Does that qualify as "bitchy"?
Now, let's make it clear: it's not that I dislike Janeway, actually I quite like the way Mulgrew played her. But the writing for the character was really bad - it was terribly inconsistent. It's like the writers never decided what kind of person and captain she's supposed to be. Kira is a great character because I know who she is, she has a background and depth and character development. With Janeway, I am never sure - is she a rule-follower, or rule breaker and maverick, is she desperate to get her crew back and feels guilty about stranding them there (a theme that appeared in first episode of season 5 and then just as quickly disappeared), or does she want to explore every anomaly along the way, is she adamant to stick to her ethical principles no matter what, or is she ready to forge alliances with the Borg and argue that this is the Delta Quadrant and different rules apply here, does she really feel that every loss of lives is a tragedy (like Lt. Carey's) or does she in fact care only about one, maybe two or three people (Seven, Chakotay, maybe Tuvok) because those were the only ones she was ready to go back in time for? I'm not sure that Janeway has any discernible consistent characteristics - apart from just being that cool, authoritative female captain... As if the writers thought that, geez, a woman being a captain is such an astonishing and unusual thing that this is all the characterization she needs! Janeway is an example how NOT to write a female character. Oh look,the captain is a WOMAN in our show, aren't we great...she is a STRONG WOMAN, you know?
Kira had great characterization, and this is why her character could have worked if she was a male as well - because she was not just written as 'strong woman in authority position - we'll think of the details later', she was written as a former Bajoran terrorist/resistance fighter, as a religious person, as someone who grew up during a cruel occupation, and then fought since the age of 12, who had a lot of anger and pain and guilt inside, and had to heal and learn how to live in peace, who started off hating Cardassians and distrusting Starfleet and didn't want outsiders to decide Bajor's fate, and who later grew to trust the Starfleet and overcame her prejudice towards Cardassians and had close and deep relationships with some of them, and even fought with Cardassian resistance. In other words, she got all the characterization, background and development that male characters get, instead of having either "babe", "love interest" or a "strong motherly woman in authority" as her defining characteristic. Gender is not the defining characteristic with most male characters, it shouldn't be the defining characteristic of female characters, either.
And if you want to talk about warmth and being "motherly" (no, I'm not going to bring up Kira volunteering to bring O'Briens' baby to term, because one might ascribe that to Visitor's real life pregnancy), if Janeway was motherly to Seven, Kira was motherly to Ziyal - she deeply cared for the girl who was the daughter of the former infamous Prefect of Bajor, and wanted to make it possible for Ziyal to get a chance at having a normal youth that Kira didn't have, and to save her from the kind of life that, as she said in Return to Grace (to Dukat!) "eats away your soul". She felt compassion for Marritza, she came to love Tekeny Ghemor - another Cardassian - as a father. Janeway had close friends - well so did Kira, she was friends with Jadzia and she had a deep and strong friendship which turned into a romance with an outsider from a fundamentally different species. Watching Chimera and What You Leave Behind shows Kira as a truly loving and generous person, who not only could accept Odo's differences, but be willing to let him go if this is what he needs.
Oh yes, that reminds me of another thing that about DS9 women... Kira and Jadzia actually had RELATIONSHIPS, real, long-term romantic relationships, not just romances of the week, and with real people, rather than corny holograms. Apparently, DS9 writers realized that there is no reason why a woman couldn't be strong and professional while being in a relationship. Fortunately, Visitor and Farrell did not think that the writers should be applying double standards and that 'what's good for the gander is not good for the goose' (Mulgrew's words) and were not afraid that their characters were going to be called 'space whore' for having boyfriends (again, Mulgrew's explanation why she didn't want Janeway to have a relationship!)
OK, now we've dealt with that, back to what was supposed to be topic of the thread... CONFLICT ON TNG (and other Trek series)!
In TOS, most of the serious conflict came from outside sources - either aliens, rogue/crazy Starfleet officers, or Starfleet officials who did not trust Kirk. Everyone, or almost everyone on Enterprise, was loyal to the captain, and we can presume that they shared the same ideals... but there were exceptions, crewmembers (guest stars) who would either become a danger/villain of the week in themselves (Gary Mitchell) or would betray, or come close to betraying the captain and crew because of the association with the villain of the week. There were crewmembers (Marla McGivers) who secretly had a fascination with the historical genetically engineered tyrant. And there were crewmembers who were racist jerks (Stiles) and created a lot of conflict and tension in the crew. Humans of the 23rd century, at least those on the ship, did not seem as evolved yet, racism against aliens was still noticeable (Stiles against Romulans, everyone against Klingons - which will be even more pronounced in TUC). One of the essentials of the show was the tension between Spock and McCoy, which was portrayed as a love/hate, frenemy type of relationship, and also between Spock, as the only alien, and the rest of the crew, who were all humans. This tension was usually presented as good-natured, friendly teasing, like a sort of benevolent form of racism on both sides (or auto-racism, in the case of Spock's remarks about humans), but when it came to Spock and McCoy, things would occasionally get uglier. In some episodes, like Bread and Circuses, The Paradise Syndrome, Requiem for Metuselah, and especially The Tholian Web, McCoy would act like a real jerk and say really hurtful things to Spock. In All Our Yesterdays, we get to see how Spock really feels about it, and how he would react if it wasn't for his Vulcan suppression of emotions. Then there's the episode Day of the Dove, where the atmosphere of animosity brought on by an outside source reveals some ugly feelings among the crew and tensions under the surface - when Scotty racially insults Spock, and Spock starts to respond in the same way, before being reminded by Kirk of the illogical nature of his anti-human remarks. "Spock, you're half-human". You have to wonder why people seemed to forget that so often in TOS.
In TNG, the characters from the Federation worlds (humans and an occasional Federation alien, like the half-Betazoid Deanna) were all much better adjusted and more "PC" than their predecessors in the 24th century. If any two members of the crew argued and insulted each other the way that Bones and Spock did, they'd probably be reprimanded and immediately be sent to Troi for counselling about their psychological problems. The ship had its outsiders - a Klingon and an android - but other members of the crew did not insult or tease them (apart from Pulaski and her attitude to Data), and Worf did not express contempt for humans, either. With those premises, the conflicts within the crew were normally short-term, related only to specific situations, although Worf was sometimes torn between being a Klingon who believed in traditional values and being a Starfleet officer. Certain characters were later introduced in order to add to some deeper conflict or tension to the crew - guest stars like Shelby or Jellico, and semi-regulars like Pulaski (which didn't last long) and later Ro Laren. With O'Brien, we saw that even sympathetic humans need to overcome racism to some aliens (like the racism towards Romulans and Klingons in TOS, borne out of a war/conflict), not to mention that we saw that xenophobia and witch-hunts could still happen in the Federation (The Drumhead). The character of Barclay showed that 24the century humans were, after all, not perfect, that there were still people with bad social skills and psychological problems, and that there were still quite a few people ready to make fun of 'losers' and 'wackos'.
DS9 had a fundamentally different premise than the previous two shows, and for the first time, about half of the regulars were not Starfleet officers, or even Federation citizens. With humans being in a minority on the station, with a mixed crew that included Bajoran Militia members, such as a former Bajoran freedom fighter/terrorist who initially didn't trust Starfleet thinking that Bajor was exchanging one occupation for another, and a member of a mysterious shapeshifter species who was also the former chief of security under the Cardassian occupation and a sort of neutral outsider interested only in justice, with lots of civilians on the station, including a Ferengi barkeeper, not to mention stations' Cardassian tailor/spy/enigma, other recurring Cardassians and Bajorans, and all sorts of other species who visited the station, with the importance of religion for Bajoran culture and politics and Sisko's own role of "Emissary of the Prophets"... a lot more attention and screentime was given to non-Federation viewpoints and people whose ethics were fundamentally different from Starfleet's, and naturally, there were more disagreements, and frenemy relationships such as Odo/Quark, which were more similar to TOS than to TNG interpersonal dynamics. Even so, the main crew came to trust and respect each other, and there was as much friendship, comradeship and loyalty as in any other Trek crew, while most of the conflict was provided by a bunch of recurring characters who seemed almost like regulars.
VOY also had a setup for a lot of tension and conflict in the main cast, with its premise of the crew consisting of Starfleet and the Maquis being forced to work together - now, this could have lead to a great story of those two factions gradually, slowly, over the course of the next few seasons, coming to trust each other... not to mention that the premise of the ship being lost in the Delta quadrant could have provided a lot of disagreements over the course of action - how far would they be willing to go and how many of their rules and principles would they be willing to sacrifice in order to get back home? Or should they just end their journey and find a place to live on one of the planets? But no - the Maquis* were integrated in a nick of time, wearing Starfleet uniforms and all, even the constantly angry and screwed-up B'Elanna was perfectly obedient very soon, Chakotay - the former leader of the Maquis - would always cave in to Janeway when push came to shove, and everybody almost always supported the captain in every decision she made, even when it didn't help their chances to get home! And when she gave them freedom to leave the ship and go and live on a planet if they choose to, nobody, NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON choose to do it?! The crew of VOY was usually so unanimous in their opinions, it's just amazing. One big happy family. It made sense for TNG, but it did not make sense for VOY. Later on, Seven was given the role of the character who presents a different viewpoint and stands up to Janeway, which was refreshing - but even she was well-adjusted after a couple of seasons. Most of the time, the only people with completely different views of what should be done to get home, were evil or morally corrupt antagonists (Seska, the Equinox crew).
(* The potential of the Maquis premise was somewhat used in the character of Lon Suder. It makes sense that such a group of renegates and terrorists would, in addition to idealists, misfits, people who were really fighting for the Maquis cause, or people who just hated Cardassians, include some sociopaths who just needed an outlet for their violent impulses.)
ENT characters were portrayed as more similar to humans of the 20th/21st century in many ways - which made sense, since it was a prequel set in the 22nd century, and we've seen that TOS characters did not have such evolved sensibilities as the people of the 24th century. Therefore ENT played up the tensions between Vulcans and humans that were seen in a milder form in TOS. Some people didn't like the portrayal of Vulcans, but I had no problem with darker, more arrogant Vulcans, as they had already showed hints of this in TOS - and there was also lots of prejudice on the human side in ENT. The tension within the crew was at first based on T'Pol's status as a Vulcan "observer" and the only non-human in the crew, but her relationships with Archer, Trip and the others eventually completely changed and she became a loyal part of the crew and later even a Starfleet member (fortunately, it was over time rather than in the very next episode); season 3 introduced the MACOs into the crew, and the tension between them and the Starfleet members, esp. Reed and Major Hayes, was played throughout the season (ironically, ENT got a lot more conflict out of those two factions than VOY did with the Maquis vs the Starfleet).
And now we've started discussing the quality of female characters. All right then...
This reminds me of that awful line from VOY "Deathwish", when Q says something like "I love the way you have so much authority without losing your femininity"
(Why should an immortal alien being speak to a human of the 24th century using lame cliches of the 20th century, I have no idea.)You know that what is or isn't feminine is a subjective matter? For instance - please tell me, what is so specifically feminine about Seven of Nine? Is it her robotic monotone voice? Is it the way she uses the words "efficient" in every second sentence? The way he asked Harry "Do you wish to copulate?" in the same robotic monotone? Seven does not act angry and does not 'swagger' not because she's this incredibly feminine woman, it's because she's an ex-Borg, and she acts like it. Borg do not act angry, do not shout, and do not 'swagger'. Seven didn't even have an idea how to be 'feminine' in a conventional sense, the first time she tried to dance with a man she nearly ripped his arm out. Not her fault, just like Kira being born on an occupied Bajor was not her fault, just the way it was.
Unless by Seven being 'feminine' you just mean that she's in a catsuit? Which is hardly a result of Seven trying to dress up - she certainly would not have - but of TPTB trying to raise VOY's ratings. Which brings me to one of the things I love about DS9's treatment of its female characters. On DS9, women could be sexy without being blatantly sexualized. The only women who wore blatantly revealing clothes were the Dabo girls, which made sense in-universe, unlike an ex-Borg or a Vulcan wearing a catsuit in their every day life while they're doing their job. With Seven of Nine (and later T'Pol), it just felt like the show was trying a bit too hard. I mean, it's nice to have attractive people on screen, but this felt like the show was trying to point out: "Look! She's sexy! She has great body! Look at her boobs and ass! She's a sex symbol of the show, get it? Now drool over her!"
Geez, we get it, you think you could have been a bit more subtle? Now this is just silly. You can't build any compassion for the character because of the way she walks?
Kira's vulnerabilities were wonderfully portrayed, both through Nana Visitor's acting and through great writing - she was IMO one of the characters with the best development in all of Trek. I certainly felt for the character, empathized with her and followed her journey through all 7 seasons. And what a journey it was.All right, if you are going to compare the characters of DS9 and VOY, let's do that.
What is that "motherly warmth" of Janeway that you speak of? The only person she ever acted motherly to was Seven. Tuvok was a friend she knew from before, and Chakotay was a close friend she sometimes flirted with... and to the rest of the crew she just treated like a captain treats his crew, she was no more "motherly" to them than Picard, Sisko or Archer were to their crews... The only reason people call her "motherly" is because she is a woman. And a woman who is an authority figure over 40 - oh well, then she has to be "motherly"!
Unless by "motherly" you mean a "shut up, kids, momma knows best" attitude. You're telling me that Jadzia is smug, but Janeway is not? Janeway almost always had that smug little smile and "my way or the highway" attitude. Of course, the writers helped her by almost never letting anyone in the crew stand up to her (except for Seven in season 4 and 5), and when her XO would do it (which was rare), she would normally completely disregard his opinion. And as for "bitchy", I don't know, how about threatening to murder - and in fact, nearly murdering - a member of the Equinox crew during 'interrogation"? Does that qualify as "bitchy"?Now, let's make it clear: it's not that I dislike Janeway, actually I quite like the way Mulgrew played her. But the writing for the character was really bad - it was terribly inconsistent. It's like the writers never decided what kind of person and captain she's supposed to be. Kira is a great character because I know who she is, she has a background and depth and character development. With Janeway, I am never sure - is she a rule-follower, or rule breaker and maverick, is she desperate to get her crew back and feels guilty about stranding them there (a theme that appeared in first episode of season 5 and then just as quickly disappeared), or does she want to explore every anomaly along the way, is she adamant to stick to her ethical principles no matter what, or is she ready to forge alliances with the Borg and argue that this is the Delta Quadrant and different rules apply here, does she really feel that every loss of lives is a tragedy (like Lt. Carey's) or does she in fact care only about one, maybe two or three people (Seven, Chakotay, maybe Tuvok) because those were the only ones she was ready to go back in time for? I'm not sure that Janeway has any discernible consistent characteristics - apart from just being that cool, authoritative female captain... As if the writers thought that, geez, a woman being a captain is such an astonishing and unusual thing that this is all the characterization she needs! Janeway is an example how NOT to write a female character. Oh look,the captain is a WOMAN in our show, aren't we great...she is a STRONG WOMAN, you know?
Kira had great characterization, and this is why her character could have worked if she was a male as well - because she was not just written as 'strong woman in authority position - we'll think of the details later', she was written as a former Bajoran terrorist/resistance fighter, as a religious person, as someone who grew up during a cruel occupation, and then fought since the age of 12, who had a lot of anger and pain and guilt inside, and had to heal and learn how to live in peace, who started off hating Cardassians and distrusting Starfleet and didn't want outsiders to decide Bajor's fate, and who later grew to trust the Starfleet and overcame her prejudice towards Cardassians and had close and deep relationships with some of them, and even fought with Cardassian resistance. In other words, she got all the characterization, background and development that male characters get, instead of having either "babe", "love interest" or a "strong motherly woman in authority" as her defining characteristic. Gender is not the defining characteristic with most male characters, it shouldn't be the defining characteristic of female characters, either.
And if you want to talk about warmth and being "motherly" (no, I'm not going to bring up Kira volunteering to bring O'Briens' baby to term, because one might ascribe that to Visitor's real life pregnancy), if Janeway was motherly to Seven, Kira was motherly to Ziyal - she deeply cared for the girl who was the daughter of the former infamous Prefect of Bajor, and wanted to make it possible for Ziyal to get a chance at having a normal youth that Kira didn't have, and to save her from the kind of life that, as she said in Return to Grace (to Dukat!) "eats away your soul". She felt compassion for Marritza, she came to love Tekeny Ghemor - another Cardassian - as a father. Janeway had close friends - well so did Kira, she was friends with Jadzia and she had a deep and strong friendship which turned into a romance with an outsider from a fundamentally different species. Watching Chimera and What You Leave Behind shows Kira as a truly loving and generous person, who not only could accept Odo's differences, but be willing to let him go if this is what he needs.
Oh yes, that reminds me of another thing that about DS9 women... Kira and Jadzia actually had RELATIONSHIPS, real, long-term romantic relationships, not just romances of the week, and with real people, rather than corny holograms. Apparently, DS9 writers realized that there is no reason why a woman couldn't be strong and professional while being in a relationship. Fortunately, Visitor and Farrell did not think that the writers should be applying double standards and that 'what's good for the gander is not good for the goose' (Mulgrew's words) and were not afraid that their characters were going to be called 'space whore' for having boyfriends (again, Mulgrew's explanation why she didn't want Janeway to have a relationship!)
OK, now we've dealt with that, back to what was supposed to be topic of the thread... CONFLICT ON TNG (and other Trek series)!
In TOS, most of the serious conflict came from outside sources - either aliens, rogue/crazy Starfleet officers, or Starfleet officials who did not trust Kirk. Everyone, or almost everyone on Enterprise, was loyal to the captain, and we can presume that they shared the same ideals... but there were exceptions, crewmembers (guest stars) who would either become a danger/villain of the week in themselves (Gary Mitchell) or would betray, or come close to betraying the captain and crew because of the association with the villain of the week. There were crewmembers (Marla McGivers) who secretly had a fascination with the historical genetically engineered tyrant. And there were crewmembers who were racist jerks (Stiles) and created a lot of conflict and tension in the crew. Humans of the 23rd century, at least those on the ship, did not seem as evolved yet, racism against aliens was still noticeable (Stiles against Romulans, everyone against Klingons - which will be even more pronounced in TUC). One of the essentials of the show was the tension between Spock and McCoy, which was portrayed as a love/hate, frenemy type of relationship, and also between Spock, as the only alien, and the rest of the crew, who were all humans. This tension was usually presented as good-natured, friendly teasing, like a sort of benevolent form of racism on both sides (or auto-racism, in the case of Spock's remarks about humans), but when it came to Spock and McCoy, things would occasionally get uglier. In some episodes, like Bread and Circuses, The Paradise Syndrome, Requiem for Metuselah, and especially The Tholian Web, McCoy would act like a real jerk and say really hurtful things to Spock. In All Our Yesterdays, we get to see how Spock really feels about it, and how he would react if it wasn't for his Vulcan suppression of emotions. Then there's the episode Day of the Dove, where the atmosphere of animosity brought on by an outside source reveals some ugly feelings among the crew and tensions under the surface - when Scotty racially insults Spock, and Spock starts to respond in the same way, before being reminded by Kirk of the illogical nature of his anti-human remarks. "Spock, you're half-human". You have to wonder why people seemed to forget that so often in TOS.
In TNG, the characters from the Federation worlds (humans and an occasional Federation alien, like the half-Betazoid Deanna) were all much better adjusted and more "PC" than their predecessors in the 24th century. If any two members of the crew argued and insulted each other the way that Bones and Spock did, they'd probably be reprimanded and immediately be sent to Troi for counselling about their psychological problems. The ship had its outsiders - a Klingon and an android - but other members of the crew did not insult or tease them (apart from Pulaski and her attitude to Data), and Worf did not express contempt for humans, either. With those premises, the conflicts within the crew were normally short-term, related only to specific situations, although Worf was sometimes torn between being a Klingon who believed in traditional values and being a Starfleet officer. Certain characters were later introduced in order to add to some deeper conflict or tension to the crew - guest stars like Shelby or Jellico, and semi-regulars like Pulaski (which didn't last long) and later Ro Laren. With O'Brien, we saw that even sympathetic humans need to overcome racism to some aliens (like the racism towards Romulans and Klingons in TOS, borne out of a war/conflict), not to mention that we saw that xenophobia and witch-hunts could still happen in the Federation (The Drumhead). The character of Barclay showed that 24the century humans were, after all, not perfect, that there were still people with bad social skills and psychological problems, and that there were still quite a few people ready to make fun of 'losers' and 'wackos'.
DS9 had a fundamentally different premise than the previous two shows, and for the first time, about half of the regulars were not Starfleet officers, or even Federation citizens. With humans being in a minority on the station, with a mixed crew that included Bajoran Militia members, such as a former Bajoran freedom fighter/terrorist who initially didn't trust Starfleet thinking that Bajor was exchanging one occupation for another, and a member of a mysterious shapeshifter species who was also the former chief of security under the Cardassian occupation and a sort of neutral outsider interested only in justice, with lots of civilians on the station, including a Ferengi barkeeper, not to mention stations' Cardassian tailor/spy/enigma, other recurring Cardassians and Bajorans, and all sorts of other species who visited the station, with the importance of religion for Bajoran culture and politics and Sisko's own role of "Emissary of the Prophets"... a lot more attention and screentime was given to non-Federation viewpoints and people whose ethics were fundamentally different from Starfleet's, and naturally, there were more disagreements, and frenemy relationships such as Odo/Quark, which were more similar to TOS than to TNG interpersonal dynamics. Even so, the main crew came to trust and respect each other, and there was as much friendship, comradeship and loyalty as in any other Trek crew, while most of the conflict was provided by a bunch of recurring characters who seemed almost like regulars.
VOY also had a setup for a lot of tension and conflict in the main cast, with its premise of the crew consisting of Starfleet and the Maquis being forced to work together - now, this could have lead to a great story of those two factions gradually, slowly, over the course of the next few seasons, coming to trust each other... not to mention that the premise of the ship being lost in the Delta quadrant could have provided a lot of disagreements over the course of action - how far would they be willing to go and how many of their rules and principles would they be willing to sacrifice in order to get back home? Or should they just end their journey and find a place to live on one of the planets? But no - the Maquis* were integrated in a nick of time, wearing Starfleet uniforms and all, even the constantly angry and screwed-up B'Elanna was perfectly obedient very soon, Chakotay - the former leader of the Maquis - would always cave in to Janeway when push came to shove, and everybody almost always supported the captain in every decision she made, even when it didn't help their chances to get home! And when she gave them freedom to leave the ship and go and live on a planet if they choose to, nobody, NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON choose to do it?! The crew of VOY was usually so unanimous in their opinions, it's just amazing.
One big happy family. It made sense for TNG, but it did not make sense for VOY. Later on, Seven was given the role of the character who presents a different viewpoint and stands up to Janeway, which was refreshing - but even she was well-adjusted after a couple of seasons. Most of the time, the only people with completely different views of what should be done to get home, were evil or morally corrupt antagonists (Seska, the Equinox crew).(* The potential of the Maquis premise was somewhat used in the character of Lon Suder. It makes sense that such a group of renegates and terrorists would, in addition to idealists, misfits, people who were really fighting for the Maquis cause, or people who just hated Cardassians, include some sociopaths who just needed an outlet for their violent impulses.)
ENT characters were portrayed as more similar to humans of the 20th/21st century in many ways - which made sense, since it was a prequel set in the 22nd century, and we've seen that TOS characters did not have such evolved sensibilities as the people of the 24th century. Therefore ENT played up the tensions between Vulcans and humans that were seen in a milder form in TOS. Some people didn't like the portrayal of Vulcans, but I had no problem with darker, more arrogant Vulcans, as they had already showed hints of this in TOS - and there was also lots of prejudice on the human side in ENT. The tension within the crew was at first based on T'Pol's status as a Vulcan "observer" and the only non-human in the crew, but her relationships with Archer, Trip and the others eventually completely changed and she became a loyal part of the crew and later even a Starfleet member (fortunately, it was over time rather than in the very next episode); season 3 introduced the MACOs into the crew, and the tension between them and the Starfleet members, esp. Reed and Major Hayes, was played throughout the season (ironically, ENT got a lot more conflict out of those two factions than VOY did with the Maquis vs the Starfleet).
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Um... what are you on about?! Unless by "men" you mean "men who happen to be a) war criminals, b) Quark" 
Sorry, but it seems more and more that you aren't really talking about the actual character of Kira at all, but reading some issues of your own into her.
