Space, the Feminist Frontier

For nearly 60 years, Star Trek has imagined humanity’s future while reflecting its present. Star Trek: The Original Series debuted with three male leads, but in the wake of a Trek renaissance that began with Star Trek: Discovery in 2017, additional series have explored the frontiers of representation, making the present moment ripe for new critical engagement and thoughtful reflection on the narratives that have shaped the journey thus far.
Using the lens of feminist criticism and theory, this collection of essays presents a diverse array of academic and fan scholars engaging with the past, present, and future of Star Trek. Contributors consider issues like Klingon marriage, Majel Barrett’s legacy, the Bechdel-Wallace test, LGBTQ+ representation, and more. They offer updated readings on legacy characters while also addressing wholly new characters like Michael Burnham, Beckett Mariner, and Adira Tal. Their essays provide some of the first critical examinations of the newest additions to the Trek franchise, including Picard, Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks.

Jennifer C. Garlen is an independent scholar in Huntsville, Alabama, where she teaches courses on literature, film, and popular culture for lifetime learning programs.
Anissa M. Graham is a senior lecturer in the English department at the University of North Alabama where she teaches courses in writing and literature.

Edited by Jennifer C. Garlen and Anissa M. Graham
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 265
Bibliographic Info: appendices, bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9334-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5353-2
Imprint: McFarland

Introduction: Dispatches from the Feminist Frontier

Jennifer C. Garlen and Anissa M. Graham 1

I. The Motherland: Matriarchs and Legacies

Female Power and Femininity in Majel Barrett’s Star Trek Characters

A.V. Rasmussen 13

“Are we ready or not?” Names and the Journey of Number One

Carey Millsap-Spears 27

How Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura Inspired the African American Female Character in Science Fiction

Sidney Blaylock, Jr. 38

Amanda Grayson and Interracial Mothering

Anissa M. Graham 52

II. Voyagers and Discoverers: The Next Generations

Resistance to Progress Is Futile: Feminism, Gender, and Seven of Nine

Holly Eva Allen 67

Gender, Marriage, and Remaining Klingon in “You Are Cordially Invited”

Zara T. Wilkinson 78

Michael Burnham and Intersectionality in Star Trek: Discovery

Janine Engelbrecht 95

Seven of Nine’s Return in Picard: Reidentifying and Reclaiming Humanity Through Hybridity

Bryana Fern 107

Parity and Parody on Lower Decks

Jennifer C. Garlen 124

III. Women’s Worlds: Female Experience and Representation

The ­Bechdel-Wallace Test Meets the Final Frontier

Jarrah Hodge 139

Lasting Images: Dr. Leah Brahms and the “Illusory Women” of Star Trek

Jacob Adler 155

Race, Gender, and “Nice Hispanic Girl” Imaginations in Star Trek

Brenda Selena Lara 167

Dealing with Trauma: The Feminist Progression of Suffering in Star Trek

Judith Clemens-Smucker 181

IV. New Frontiers: Beyond the Binary Boundary

Only a Link in a Chain: The Queer Lives of Joined Trill

Dylan Reid Miller 197

The Evolution of ­Non-Binary Characters from The Next Generation to Discovery

Finnian Burnett 208

Through a Glass Darkly: Queer and Queer Coded Villains in the Mirror Universe

Alison Waddy 219

Standing Up to Stigma: Destigmatizing the LGBTQ+ Experience in Star Trek: Enterprise

Zachary Kacmarynski and Darsa Donelan 232

Appendix A: Star Trek Television Series and Films in Chronological Order 243

Appendix B: Star Trek Episodes and Films Cited by Essay 245

About the Contributors 249

Index 253

“Space, The Feminist Frontier: Essays on Sex and Gender in Star Trek is a welcome addition to scholarship on Star Trek in its various iterations. Several themes including the male gaze and non-binary characters are explored, and the book contains chapters on rarely explored characters, such as Nurse Chapel, Amanda Grayson, and Leah Brahms, as well as ones well studied, such as Uhura and Seven of Nine. Analysis of series, such as Lower Decks and Enterprise, that have received little critical study are a welcome addition.—Dr. Sherry Ginn, president, Popular Culture Association