First Advisor

Brenda Glascott

Date of Award

11-16-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Philosophy and University Honors

Department

Philosophy

Subjects

Star trek (Television program) -- Criticism and interpretation, Star trek (The next generation: Television program) -- Criticism and interpretation, Television programs -- Social aspects, Sex role in mass media, Science fiction television programs -- United States -- History and criticism

DOI

10.15760/honors.659

Abstract

Understanding "gender" is more complicated than traditional views of the male sex equating to being a man, and female sex equating to being a woman. This gender binary coding does not accurately represent a large number of people who identify as agender (not of a gender), or gender-fluid (not having a fixed gender.) I am investigating to what extent Star Trek (which is a science fiction often accredited with the premise of representing humanity's more equitable future society) reproduces traditional gender roles or offers alternate gender identities. I look at literature from other scholars about gender performances in Star Trek, as well as analyze an episode form ST:TNG, "The Outcast", looking at how the production treats a species of androgynous beings, and ultimately seeking whether Star Trek breaks deeply embedded ideas of binary gender, or portrays a future state of humanity as more inclusive of different types of gender identity.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/26743

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