The Orion slave girl has been one of the most iconic and controversial figures in Star Trek since the original pilot 50 years ago. Now, we put a feminist lens on the early “green skinned space babes” and their more modern incarnations in Enterprise and Star Trek Continues.
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Hosts: Jarrah, Sue and Grace
Editor: Jarrah
Transcription: Rebecca – @carolinalady
Download transcript: PDF or Word
Notes and References:
- “Green Skinned Space Babe” trope at TV Tropes
- The Green Girl, documentary by George Pappy
- “Sexualized Saturdays: The Sexist & Racist Themes Portrayed Through the Orion Slave Girls” at Lady Geek Girl
- Archived interview with Roberto Orci including discussion of Gaila in Star Trek (2009)
About the MAC choices for their ad campaign: images of Lwaxana Troi would have been a great choice, to open their market to women over 40. She was glamorous always.
I think she was institutionalised for being a sexual woman. I think she was abused leading to her combine sexual diversion and attack/self-preservation.