Conclusions

The reason these stereotypes are present in the show is because of the people who wrote the episodes and aired the program. Less than twenty of the seventy nine episodes in the original series were written by women. The network that aired the show was NBC, which is run by white men. This dominant group wants to create programming that flatters themselves and their target audiences. Coincidentally, their target audience is also educated white men. In order to reach this audience, the writers put together episodes that will flatter this group at the expense of other groups. These stereotypes discourage viewers who are not white, straight males. Minorities and women are presented in such a way that they seem unwelcome in the science field. They are not presented as having the respect of their peers or the ability to work their way up to be a successful leader. There is a severe lack of diversity of characters in terms of their flaws and strengths. The women are emotionally and physically weak, the minorities and halfbreed characters are obsessed with the fact that they are not white. Throughout all of the Star Trek franchise, these stereotypes come up time and time again with different characters of the same demographic.

Old is New Again

In 2009, J.J. Abrams directed the eleventh Star Trek film. This one featured new cast members playing the crew from the Original Series. This film looks at the same crew in an alternate universe where Spock becomes captain of the Enterprise and Kirk is not even allowed on the ship.

Over the course of the film, Kirk tries to "set things right" by becoming captain of the Enterprise and having Spock as his second in command. The premise is basically a power struggle between the dominant group and the halfbreed and Kirk inevitably wins in the end. The film presents Spock being captain as something unnatural that needs to be set right. As usual, when Spock is in charge the crew has a difficult time accepting his authority.

The reboot of the old series maintains many of the stereotypes present in the sixties. Even in this alternate universe Chekov is hard to understand, Sulu is more lethal with a sword than a phaser and does not know how to drive the ship, Spock is not allowed to be more sexual than Kirk, and Uhura is the ship's receptionist.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Homosexuality is seemingly absent from the Star Trek universe in the Original Series. Some fans cite certain episodes as evidence towards the possibility of Kirk and Spock having a homosexual relationship but nothing is ever explicitly stated. The only creatures that are not strictly heterosexual in the Original Series are Tribbles.

Spock is treated like a homosexual character in terms of his love life being featured as a spectacle. Since he is part Vulcan, he has to  mate once every seven years in the ritual of Pon-Farr. Other than that, he remains mostly chaste unless he is under the influence of some alien substance and is not acting out of his own free will. Frequently he is presented with women who try to seduce him but he resists them because his work is more important to him. Captain Kirk, on the other hand, is shown almost every episode with a different woman.

Alien Femme Fatale

The only women who are given any power or strength in Star Trek are always portrayed as extremely sexual. Their sexuality is also usually their downfall.

In the episode Catspaw, Sylvia, a shapeshifting alien, captures Captain Kirk and other members of the Enterprise crew. After multiple conversations with him she discovers she is attracted to Captain Kirk. He uses this to his advantage and tries to seduce her in order to escape.

In the Enterprise Incident (1968), the crew of the Enterprise come up with a plan to steal the Romulan's ship's cloaking device. This plan involves Spock seducing the Romulan Commander as a distraction so that Captain Kirk can sneak on board her ship to steal the device. When the plan is carried out and Spock's motivation revealed, the Romulan Commander appears hurt and misled while Spock is characteristically unmoved.

Generally, the alien women in Star Trek are promiscuous while the human women are expected to be more modest. NBC made sure that any explicit sexuality between characters involved alien women and everything else was only hinted at.

Same Old Story

Even though they occupied equal positions in all divisions of the crew, women in Star Trek were not treated as equals by the men in the show. The female characters were frequently undermined and relatively helpless.

They held positions that are typically "female". Christine Chapel, played by Majel Barrett, is a nurse, Lt. Uhura is basically the ship's receptionist, and Yeoman Janice Rand, played by Grace Lee Whitney, is a glorified flight attendant.

These women always have to answer to the men in charge and sometimes hint to being attracted to one of the male crew members, although those feelings are never returned. The men always have their minds on the mission at hand and the women are a distraction or obstacle.

Familiar Traps

Even though Star Trek is commended for giving minorities and females more visibility on television, it was not always positive. Many stereotypes are presented and reinforced in the entire Star Trek franchise.

The character Spock is second in command. He replaced a female character played by Majel Barrett who held that position in the first pilot shown to NBC. The network told Roddenberry to replace her with a man because the audience would not respond well to a woman in such a high ranking position.

The network also had an issue with Spock's skin color. Originally, to reinforce his martian origin, Spock's skin was going to be reddish but that was changed because he would appear black if the show was viewed on a black and white television. Instead they gave him a greenish hue.

Spock is half human and half Vulcan. This puts him in a minority category and he is constantly reminded and ridiculed for not being entirely human by some members of the crew. The crew always has an issue when Spock is in a position of power when Captain Kirk is unable to lead even though he is second in command. The underlying reason is inevitably because he is part Vulcan and is governed by logic, not emotion. The rest of the crew on the Enterprise see this as a flaw in Spock's character, something that separates him from the rest of them, and they complain about it frequently.

Many of the stereotypes frequently featured in Star Trek are ones that are well known in American culture.

The head engineer of the Enterprise Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, played by James Doohan, is a Scotsman who is constantly drinking and is seen getting into bar fights.

Lt. Sulu, played by George Takei, is a recurring character in the Original Series yet one of the only facts the audience learns about him is that he has a sword and knows how to fence. Ensign Chekov, played by Walter Koenig, had a ridiculous Russian accent that makes him difficult to understand at times. He also is seen drinking vodka and is usually under the impression that most things were invented in Russia.

Where No Show Has Gone Before

Star Trek was the first show to feature such a diverse cast. Roddenberry wanted his futuristic program to show a society of different races, genders, and species working together peacefully without intolerance.

Nichelle Nichols was the first black woman to be cast as such a high ranking character. She plays Lt. Uhura and was an important part of the crew.

Star Trek was also the first program to air an interracial kiss, between Captain Kirk and Uhura in Platos's Stepchildren (1968)..

Star Trek the Original Series

Star Trek, the original series, aired on NBC from 1966 to 1969

Created by: Gene Roddenberry
Produced by: Gene Coon, John Meredyth Lucas, and Fred Freiberger
Originally produced by Desilu Productions (1966-1967), later produced by Paramount Television (1967-1969).
Distributed by: CBS Television Distribution
Aired on NBC

Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelly, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Walter Koenig, and Majel Barret.