Final Project - Star Trek TNG and Women
Ashley and I studied the roles of women in Star Trek: the Next Generation season 1. Our thesis was that, despite the fact that the series takes place in the future (24th century), women are still fulfilling basic 20th century roles. We looked at the 3 main character women: Deanna Troi, Tasha Yar, and Beverly Crusher. Deanna Troi fulfilled the sexy, empathetic woman's role. Tasha Yar was supposedly masculine yet overly emotional and sexual. Beverly Crusher was the ship's mother figure.
We used the book by Robin Roberts, Sexual Generations. Also, we used an article by Lynn Joyrich, called "Feminist Enterprise? Star Trek: The Next Generation and the Occupation of Femininity". Otherwise, we used E. Ann Kaplan's article on the male gaze.
On a side note, discussing the oppression of women in one of my favorite childhood television shows was a sort of depressing activity. Now I can't stop doing it and I'm beginning to annoy my friends.