So anyway, anyone see the new episode of Star Trek? Specifically Strange New Worlds S2E2: Ad Astra Per Aspera. I’ll avoid spoilers, but I thought it was an amazing example of an old school, philosophically compelling, courtroom ep (in the style of The Drumhead or Measure of a Man) that really dug deep into exploring the systemic pressures that effect minority groups. Seriously like 9/10 episode and while not specially LGBTQ related, I think it definitely touches on themes some of y’all would vibe with.
I didn’t even know there was a star trek show currently running lol, but good to know. Sometimes Star Trek gets stuff 100% right, and sometimes…ugh lol…(I’m never going to recover from everyone telling me for years that TOS is THE most progressive feminist thing ever to exist ever and then watching it only to be repeatedly slammed in the face with misogynistic hate crimes and absurd levels of racism)
The thing about classic trek is there is definitely a lot wrong with it by modern standards, and Gene Roddenberry was famously a massive horndog. And Rick Berman taking over in the 90s wasnt great because he was just aggressively terrible to women.
But.
For the time, there is a lot they got right, and there are episodes even from the original series, but especially TNG and DS9 that hold up incredibly well. And the new seasons do a generally great job on representation, though the quality isnt always perfect (s2 of picard was… not good)
If you watch no other trek though, Strange New Worlds is soooooo worth it
Edit: while not… perfect representation, the character of Jadzia Dax from DS9 is sometimes a surprisingly great character that is used to, at least, explore some trans-adjacent theme. Basically she is a Trill, a race that sometimes partners symbiotically with uh, a slug thing (look its weird just go with it.) The symbiotes live longer than their hosts so live many lives, and their hosts are connected to those past lives. Basically there are several characters which knew her in a previous life where she was a man, and the immediate acceptance at recognizing their friend is so heartwarming
In an effort to keep this main thread open, we’ve relocated and closed a side conversation on biological sex since the discussion has run its course, and an increasing number of replies that were found to violate our guidelines were flagged or hidden.
This thread is getting kind of hard to follow with all the conversations that get split off and locked and sometimes redirected back here. Would it be possible for this thread to have its own rules to prevent this? And maybe a list of resources/guides to explain things like the difference between biological sex and gender, different labels, etc.?
The problem is trolls aren’t going to care about rules etc, and they’re very good at couching their language in ways that don’t seem harmful unless you’re looking at it.
Honestly, the best thing is probably just to not engage and report anything suspect to the mods.
I can sum up fast the salient things of importance: if you are a minority it’s often hard to talk to strangers about it. You did anyway, for science. Thank you so much for this post.
OP alone: you have an open invitation to DM me for a wee chat anytime you are bored. Worst possible outcome: Oh no! Wht if we get on a bit too well? We will both get over that.
Yes, i get your point, but back when forums were more of a thing I used to be in some where certain threads would have their own special rules. It didn’t necessarily dissuade trolls, but allowed mods to take action more effectively (as people would know from the start that this or that wasn’t allowed) and made things easier. I can see where you’re coming from, though, I’m not sure the staff here would really do that.
Yes, not engaging can be really hard, but I think that hate speech will pretty much take care of itself. It is really hard not to engage when it is an important topic.
Hey y’all! I’m Jasper, I’m new here, and I’m super excited to see a flourishing community of queer naturalists here! I’ve tried lots of different naturalist websites before but always found a uh, let’s just not so welcoming party. I hope to work with y’all and see your incredible observations soon!
