To Boldly Go

In 2016, Star Trek—arguably the most popular science fiction franchise of all time—turned 50. During that time the original series and its various offshoots have created some of the genre’s most iconic characters and reiterated a vision of an egalitarian future where humans no longer discriminate against race, gender or sexuality. This collection of new essays provides a timely study of how well Star Trek has lived up to its own ideals of inclusivity and equality, and how well prepared it is to boldly go with everyone into the next half century.

Nadine Farghaly has a Ph.D. in American studies from the University of Salzburg. She lives in Siegsdorf, Germany.
Simon Bacon is an independent scholar based in Poznan, Poland. He has contributed articles to many publications on vampires, monstrosity, science fiction and media studies.

Edited by Nadine Farghaly and Simon Bacon
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 268
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6853-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2931-5
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Introduction 1
The Bad Boy and Feminism: Analyzing Captain Kirk (Suzan E. Aiken) 9
Reinscribing Patriarchy in the Star Trek Films, 1979–1994 (Andrew M. Butler) 27
What We See When We Look in the Mirror: Star Trek’s
Alternative Sexuality (Teresa ­Cutler-Broyles) 41
On How to Overcome Nonfunctional Attachment Bonds
in Outer Space (Nadine Farghaly) 54
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations: The Representation
of Transgender Identities in Star Trek (Jack Fennell) 72
Deep Space Gender: Miles ­O’Brien, Julian Bashir
and Masculinity (Andrew Howe) 90
From Supercrip to Assimilant: Normalcy, Bioculture
and Disability in the Star Trek Universe (Ken Monteith) 106
Mothering the Universe on Star Trek (Ericka Hoagland) 126
Photons and Phantoms: Kathryn Janeway as Gothic Heroine
(Eleanor Dobson) 143
Strange New Worlds: Gender Disparity in Star Trek: TOS
(Michael Pringle) 156
Female Leadership, Sacrifice and Technological Mastery
on Star Trek: Voyager (Lorrie Palmer ) 169
“This is me cargo”: The Commodification and Hyperreality
of Women in “Mudd’s Women” (Haley M. Fedor and Derek Frasure) 189
Hybrids: Interspecies Intercourse and Biracial Identity
in Star Trek (Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr.) 201
Where No Girl Has Gone Before? Teenage Girls in Star Trek’s
Strong Female Future (Zara T. Wilkinson) 219
To Boldly Go Where No Undead Have Gone Before: Comparisons between Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Simon Bacon) 236
About the Contributors 251
Index 255