Kate Mulgrew calls Gene Roddenberry a misogynist

[Actarus]

There's no denying that there was no small amount of male chauvinism in TOS. However, it was still revolutionary to see women on the bridge of the Enterprise, one that was even First Officer (Number One in the first show pilot), and another woman that was commanding a Romulan D-7. So, I supposed it amounts to "should we judge old Sci-Fi with today's (moral) standards."

[Mecha82]

IIRC way Rand was written was already really misogynist.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

There's no denying that there was no small amount of male chauvinism in TOS. However, it was still revolutionary to see women on the bridge of the Enterprise, one that was even First Officer (Number One in the first show pilot), and another woman that was commanding a Romulan D-7. So, I supposed it amounts to "should we judge old Sci-Fi with today's (moral) standards."

Yeah I'm more curious about how relatively progressive the show was (with regard to misogyny) and not if it was contemptible by today's media standards.

It's possible the standards back then did have progressive developments that Star Trek was inept to, which I'm just as interested in hearing about, but talking about how chauvinism was generally a thing that people were aware of doesn't bring much nuance to the consideration.

[Elderdog]

Here's the full interview if anyone's interested...
https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-07-20/star-treks-kate-mulgrew-on-the-moon-landing-and-misogyny-in-space/

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Well that sure does put things in perspective!

[Actarus]

IIRC way Rand was written was already really misogynist.

Indeed. A TV show, a theatre play, a movie are all products of their time. But imagine how Rand would have been written in 1957? I will give you the answer: she probably wouldn't even been written at all! A woman aboard a space ship? On the bridge? And there's even a black woman there! Impossible! I remember that Nichelle Nichols was not satisfied with her role that she found insignificant. She told Martin Luther King that she was thinking to leave the show. Dr King convinced her to remain because it gave hope to the black people. How many girls were inspired to get into science because there were women in Star Trek?

It's like the gays. Today, the way gays were depicted in movies would be considered homophobic because they were usually shown as effeminate, if not outright transvestites in comedies. However, it was already some progress, because before they would have been shown in a very less benign way, often as the villain. When you get to laugh about it, you begin to accept it. "Oh yeah, they're ridiculous, but they are not dangerous, afterall."

[CmdrKing]

Roddenberry's relationship to sexism reminds me most strongly of Hugh Hefner's: yes, but not really in the ways you'd think.

In a lot of the nitty gritty ways that matter, what Roddenberry was doing did more to move the needle than a lot of his critics, having the lack of concern and clout to just put women out there to speak for themselves and, in his very 60s way, show a more equal (if still not actually equal) society. But he did so in a way that also personally benefit his own particular tastes and love life, and in so doing also undermined to a degree his stated stances and the potential good of his work: women are here and exist in real, meaningful positions! But y'know they'll still fall into many of the same tired tropes we have now. It's probably a net positive, but also makes clear his own biases and highlights the many ways he could have been better without them.

[Yukaphile]

She's absolutely right. It's also possible he was the one who assaulted Whitney on staff. Why else wouldn't she name him? Because the myths surrounding what people loved in Trek and how much it came from the show's actual creator is such that it would have meant nobody believed her, or if they did, couldn't love the show anymore.

[Makeshift Python]

She's absolutely right. It's also possible he was the one who assaulted Whitney on staff. Why else wouldn't she name him? Because the myths surrounding what people loved in Trek and how much it came from the show's actual creator is such that it would have meant nobody believed her, or if they did, couldn't love the show anymore.

That’s speculative.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Mr. Yuka, when he says that, he means that he feels more safer about your guesses than most people's facts.