I’ve been doing some Star Trek watching lately. I fully watched all of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for the first time. I watched Star Trek: Lower Decks just so my hubby wouldn’t have to keep from spoiling it for me. I’ve moved on to “re”watching Star Trek: Enterprise. (Voyager is way too problematic for me to watch.)
I am definitely appreciating it more than the first time around (when it first aired). I’m up to the season 2 episode “Cogenitor” where they encounter a race that has three genders, and the third gender is involved in procreation. And that’s all the gender is used for. They have no names. They have no formal education. They are not seen as equals, they are simply there for breeding. That is the focus of the episode. Tripp, the chief engineer, has a problem with this. I agree with him, but it’s also a case of applying human morals and values to another species during human’s first time exploring space.
My problem with it is Tripp’s issues with pronouns. The universal translator translates the pronoun as “it” in English. Considering this is from 2003, the lack of they/them is sadly not surprising. I remember that time. Gender neutral pronouns were not commonly used yet. But Tripp insists on using she/her because he feels they are more feminine than masculine. And no one corrects him or, worse, picks up his use of she/her.
I find it hard to believe that after humanity has managed to come together, create the first warp 5 spaceship, go out into the galaxy to explore and meet new races and cultures, and has problems with gender neutral individuals and pronouns. It seems more like a reflection on US culture at the time rather than the future we envision for ourselves through Star Trek. Star Trek: The Next Generation did better discussing gender and agender ten years before. I know Enterprise takes place before TNG, but it was written after. It’s so frustrating.
Deviate from the Norm 