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The women of Star Trek: Why are they wearing those uniforms?
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With the recent release of the new movie Star Trek, many trekkies and non-trekkies hurried to theaters to see the new and improved adaptation of the old classic television and film series. Directed by J.J. Abrams, the film was done especially well -- and is actually made to be cool, funny, technologically up-to-date, and downright entertaining and accessible to virtually everyone. Built on the foundation of the older blueprint outlining space, time, and social and intergalactic interactions, the new image is even more progressive than the first.
Appropriate to the modern interpretation of humanity and the world and universe at large, we also see that women are represented in equal numbers in the star fleet -- ostensibly present in the form of many background characters indicating various officers as well as a few prominently featured females. Nevertheless, the new film does a curious thing in keeping in line with some of the original Star Trek images: the women's costumes are very gender-specific and largely impractical.
Though I did not condemn the garments as particularly offensive (especially in light of the film's other valiant attempts at egalitarianism), I still found the notion particularly hilarious: that several hundred years into the future, where humans and extraterrestrials are portrayed as united in their intergalactic relationships, women workers are still wearing short skirts while men are wearing pants.
Remember: though we are not as technologically advanced as the Star Trek icons we watch in theaters, modern women workers on say, airplanes, are no longer required to wear such arbitrary clothing even now! As much as we would not expect these universal warriors and inter-planetary technicians to be conducting diplomacy or battle on foot or performing any other strenuous physical exertions, it seems inappropriate and unconventional that women adorn something skimpier than the original iconic stewardess uniform.
This is not to say that the uniforms are not attractive on the female characters -- which are primarily showcased by Zoe Saldana's character Uhura -- they are just strikingly regressive in the context of a future time that is posited as the product of our collective advancement. In other words, almost everything seems appropriately evolved except for the women's uniforms.
Unless of course, we decide to dissect the notion that no female character actually saves the day, or any part of the day, in this new film. But can we realistically demand that women feature prominently as heros if the new film must reflect the dynamics of the old film in terms of plot and story line? If the women of Star Trek were never at the forefront of the action, perhaps we cannot expect that they should change much now -- and if they did, it may seem a little too contrived in lieu of the concept of remaking an older film. After all, a story is a story with its own valuable integrity, regardless of the heros' gender.
Whether or not the new Star Trek movie is obligated to bolster the image of women in terms of empowerment and equality in action, I would have appreciated at the very least for the female characters to have sported a believable uniform -- one that does not necessarily need to abandon sexual appeal altogether -- but nevertheless an outfit that is not so obviously useless other than its sole function in identifying the wearer as a woman.
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Juliette Frette
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