Star Trek Social Club

Punch it!

So that is a vague title, but this is obviously spoiler related but it also felt fitting with what this post is about. I am going to be a corny emotional potato right now and I really needed this off my chest.

Also before you go reading my post and complain that is now what you want, it is mainly a self reflection post relating to being trans, transphobia, modern society etc. So if its not your cup o tea, gotcha but yeah. Also unsurprisingly in relation to that, yes I am trans. And I guess I should warn this post will deal with some societal issues, self loathing, emotions yada yada.

So even last season I felt that I could relate to Una's story, having to hide her identity as Illyrian because society deemed it illegal. We saw the anger and fear from La'an when she felt deceived alongside her own identity issues with being related to Noonien Singh. Now of course augments aren't a direct 1 - 1 the same as trans people and I am not trying to make that claim either. But I did read parts of it as allegorical for trans experiences, and I think its also partially intentional. I remember being a bit teary seeing La'an and Una's fight and everything else.

Then we got this absolutely amazing episode dealing with the aftermath. Of course we knew she would be safe but the journey there was what is interesting and this episode blew it out of it all.

Already seeing the way her identity was used and presented as some form of deception, as if she had lied to others and that it was harmful rings a very clear bell with both past histories of laws with lgbtq people but still do today. While I do not live in the US, seeing the laws presented these days, the moral panic and continuous attack made on trans people I see a clear connection. And even if I am not suffering under them, I still fear both for friends who do and the worry that those same laws might come to my country. We can't choose to be born like this, we never had that choice and yet it's argued that it should be used to exclude trans people. It leads to a lot of pain.

Knowing how laws where discussed, might even have passed of trans children being taken from their parents if doctors reported them under arguments of child abuse if they went in to health care providers made me think of the way Una could not get health care for the fear of being arrested with her family. This is of course most likely relatable aswell to a lot of other minorities. The whole passing argument how people where divided in two cities, and those that passed could live in society as everyone else, if they kept their identity hidden and if you didn't passed you would face persecution, hatred etc.

Not to mention when they mentioned all the slurs used, I found so many points where I could change the word augment for trans related things and it painfully made sense.

There was so much here but in the end that is not why I made this post, what actually made me just break down crying and hit so hard in feeling that I was told my own life was okay was this discussion between Neera and La'an.

Counselor: There is nothing wrong with you Lieutenant, no hidden monster inside. But I do know how they make us feel. They look down at us for so long that we begin to look down at ourselves. Genetics is not our destiny despite what you may have been taught. The fear of yourself it’s not your own. It was drilled into you. You’re not born a monster. You were just born with a capacity for actions, good or ill. Just like the rest of us…

While we talk about augments here again, there is a clear correlation with the notion of that self loathing that comes with being part of something you have no control over. That fear of being discriminated against but also the way people talk about you..

I have felt like a monster before for being trans. Same with freak, and a lot of other words. Both being told by strangers but also familiar people's reactions. Feeling like I was damaging their lives, feeling like I robbed my parents of the child they thought I had. The deceiver, liar. I still feel like that a lot of the time. And then just hearing those words, despite the varying context it helped. I felt a bit more at peace, or relieved to see that sort of affirmation on screen.

I don't know how many times I have feared my own existence, or worried what others will think or react. To feel lesser, faker but also potentially dangerous. I don't even know how to explain what it made me feel but I felt seen. I felt seen for the first time in forever on screen and it makes me feel less wrong. Despite everything bad in the world there still exists some good, some people that still see how wrong things can be, and I am happy Star Trek remains there, always optimistic about it despite the hardships.

This turned into a weird rambling post, I am not sure it made a lot of sense but I needed to share/vent somewhere.

Is the new episode of @startrek #StrangeNewWorlds already streaming in México?

Or should I go to the 🏴‍☠️🌊🏖️???

Reposting this from the SNW S2E2 thread as it was removed by a mod for being “off topic”.

For those not already familiar, Simon & Schuster offers a monthly ebook promotion with an array of Treklit across shows and eras.

It’s a great way to dip your toe into the Litverse at modest cost.

Recommended price is $ 0.99 in the USA through the major ebook sellers, with similar pricing offers in Canada and some other countries.

This month’s selection includes the Destiny trilogy from the Relaunch novelverse. It’s David Mack’s excellent alpha to omega story of The Borg, featuring the Enterprise under Picard, the Titan under Riker, and the Aventine under newly promoted Captain Ezri Dax, with a Voyager cameo as well.

There’s also the Worlds of DS9 series, some favourites from the TOS and TNG eras from Greg Cox, Christopher L Bennett and Michael Jan Friedman as well as tie-in books to the new series.

This month’s offer is available until July 3rd

Written by Dana Horgan

Directed by Valerie Weiss

Narrated by the plain and simple tailor himself.

SPOILER WARNING. Unless I missed some details from the episode 1 of SNW season 2, Kane reveals some details of her character that are not in episode 1 yet.

You have been warned.

Edit: missed a word

So, lemmy seems to be flooded with spam bot accounts at the moment. Look through the table of servers on fedidb (https://fedidb.org/software/lemmy) and notice how there are these huge instances without any active users (MAU).

Also notice how startrek.website has 9000 users for 276 active users this month.

From memory, when I signed up, there was no email requirement or captcha or anything.

Admins ... maybe you want to tighten things up?

I'm making my way through DS9 for the first time (almost finished with season two). For reference, I've seen TOG, TNG, all the new movies, Discovery, Lower Decks, and SNW. DS9 season one was a little slow to pick up, but my husband and I are loving season two. As always, Star Trek addresses a lot of hard hitting issues in very nuanced ways. It's also great continuously seeing fantastic representation in even older episodes (mainly women and people of colour in prominent and varied positions).

But when we get to more women specific issues, things are seriously lacking. Basically, almost any scene with the Ferengis interacting with women are problematic. I understand that they are a highly misogynistic race, but my discomfort and annoyance is with how others react to them. The Grand Nagus sexually assaulting women, especially Kira, is never actually fully addressed. It's just seen as an annoyance to be put up with. Quark is often seen as aggressively pursuing women, often with unwanted touches and other advances. Even if it's at first the women in question is disinterested, they relent in some way, either completely or they tell him something flattering/of chances in the future. Thankfully, so far, none of the main women characters have given into his advances, but it's common for one off and guest characters to somehow be "charmed" by him, even those from more egalitarian civilizations (eg: Vulcan).

I know DS9 was made prior to #MeToo, but it's still worth pointing out where Star Trek can and have improved (thankfully newer Trek has less of these issues), and when some of the portrayals in the past are rather inconsistent with the philosophies of the Federation. Of course, the Federation operates with a level of cultural relativism, but it still doesn't make sense to me how the Grand Nagus (and Ferengis in general) were allowed to assault and harass those outside of their culture/species on an interstellar, multi-cutural, Federation run space station. Star Trek in the 90s was trying to a lot of good, but watching it now, there's definitely quite a few aspects that are unsatisfying.

Just in case you didn't know ... she's on mastodon, has probably been here longer than you, and is active (she once actually replied to me!!!!!).

https://mastodon.world/@JeriLRyan