True! But I left that out as I think she was in it as a day player, not a guest star.
I'm not sure what distinction you're making here.
The writers really didn't know what to do with the Yeoman role, which is one of the reasons Whitney was let go (she was being paid for days she wasn't working, because they couldn't come up with enough material -- "glorified cameos," as you put it -- but had to pay her nonetheless, per the terms of her contract). Once Rand disappeared, the yeoman role basically evaporated from the series, no?
Yeah, the only point I was making was that in the first two episodes she was listed as a 'guest star' in the credits, for whatever kudos was attached to that (your name is bigger onscreen). Nothing more than that.
Yeoman only really appear with regularity in season one, even after Rand is gone. The issue goes wider than yeomen though. Their general treatment of female crew was pretty poor. Not many of them appear without being a love interest and in many cases they played only lip service to their skills beyond being sexy.
Again look at the CotEoF comic to see how simple it would have been to make Rand or the other yeomen relevant more generally. I think the point was that she and most of the other women were too passive, standing around waiting to be told what to do by Kirk. Very few ever do anything on their own initiative (one reason why Helen Noel is so cool plus Charlene Masters is another good depiction) or give orders to junior crew in a landing party. How many of them even fire a phaser? Many of them were not even equipped with phasers. The fault was definitely not with character potential, or with Grace's performance; it was sexism pure and simple.
It's one of the reasons I get so frustrated with NuTrek. Considering it is being made in the 21st century and not the sixties, its treatment of women beyond a few main characters is deplorable.
