10 Times Star Trek Changed The World

Star Trek has had a turbulent history with regards to the representation and inclusion of women. Whilst the first TOS pilot (and indeed Roddenberry’s show pitch) included a woman as first officer, she was removed for the second pilot and the rest of the series, not to return until Discovery and Strange New Worlds.

TOS would still break a lot of ground in this respect, most notably with Uhura (although still woefully underused as a character), but equally all too often women on the show were reduced to the level of sex-symbol, the naturally frightened of the species, and the object of Kirk’s amorous advances.

The first female Captain (aside from the Romulan commander in Face of the Enemy) to appear on-screen, although nameless, was in The Voyage Home on the USS Saratoga. Later, for TNG, Roddenberry claimed he had learnt some valuable lessons, and it is true that there were some more diverse roles for women such as the security chief Natasha Yar, but that hardly ended well.

It wasn’t arguably until, dare I say it, others took over the helm of the franchise, and with the other spin-offs, that more progress was made in the depiction of women. We got the likes of Kira, Jadzia, and then, of course, there was Captain Janeway. To say that the latter has had a positive influence on our cultural and political conversations about women in leadership roles would be an understatement. Only recently even have US politicians Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Stacey Abrams spoken about the impact Janeway has had on their lives, as a source of inspiration for women in power. Abrams also appeared in the Discovery season four finale.