Holy hell, the miniskirts. I know it was progressive for its time, women’s lib, etc. But: Female officers bending over console, butt swell hanging out. Almost every episode, over sexualized women needlessly emotional, constantly falling into male arms. Barely clothed, wisps of fabric. Spock saying that Kirk’s alter ego trying to rape his female officer made him interesting.
I’m at episode 14, 1st season. Is the rest of the series like this?
That said, there’s a hard, pure science to it I haven’t seen in later star treks. Can see how people then would find it fascinating. Also gets deep, in a weighty, high drama way.
We recently watched that TOS animated series. There was one really funny bit related to this:
The crew goes to a planet with either only women or maybe it was the men and women lived separately.
They meet with the leader of the community there and one of the first things they ask is “where is your leader? Your doctors and scientists?”
Another episode with a similar premise (there was a lot of repetition my god) the leader introduced herself as “Head Female.”
The show sure was mixed in that regard.
And TOS itself had Turnabout Intruder, where Janice Lester switches minds with Kirk because women can’t be captains.
“Your world of starship captains doesn’t admit women. It isn’t fair.”
Plus The Cage/The Menagerie, where Pike says he can’t get used to women on the bridge.
I thought that Pike line was written to start a story arc of a misogynist who learns to be better. He says the “can’t get used to women on the bridge” line after pretty clearly being a cock to his yeoman who is just doing her job. The look that Majel Barrett’s character gives him when he says the next line: “No offense Lieutenant, you’re not like other women” drives it home that what he just said was really inappropriate. But that’s me watching it for the first time just a few years ago, after having grown up watching '90s Trek and having certain expectations of Starfleet captains. The way Kirk was written in the following episodes kind of crushes that theory.