Icon from a picrew by grgikau. Call me Tir or Julian. 37. He/They. Queer. Twitter: @tirlaeyn. ao3: tirlaeyn. 18+ Only. Star Trek. Sandman. IwtV. OMFD. Definitionless in this Strict Atmosphere.
star trek drawings ive recorded (videos are on this blog and @ my insta) reblog with your fave tos episodes, im rewatching them at random rn and i want ideas 💖
Random thought: I strongly disagree with the commentary that SNW Uhura is “masculinized”. She’s got makeup, sparkly earrings, walks with a sashay, and was a literal queen in one episode.
Some of these negative comments regarding the character have hurt people, particularly Black fans with that very hair which is the subject of much of this commentary.
I don’t know where this commentary is coming from, but it sure feels familiar. When have people not been upset about Uhura’s hair? I’ve written about this before, but to return to this:
In the original series Uhura had straightened hair, which Nichelle Nichols later called “denying her identity” or something similar. When the movies came around Nichelle was determined to keep her afro but the studio called this “too contemporary”. They settled on the short style.
Is Uhura presenting as more masculine because she doesn’t have long, straightened hair? Of course not. Is a hairstyle that black people have had for thousands of years “too contemporary” to appear on black people hundreds of years in the future? Of course not.
There’s a long Star Trek tradition of being obsessed with Uhura’s hair in particular. The racist connotations of calling Celia Rose Gooding’s profile masculine because they have short hair unfortunately have a long history in Star Trek. It’s also very telling that people don’t complain about how almost every black woman in Star Trek had straightened hair until recently, which is a time consuming process and wouldn’t work for everyone - but they chime in when a woman has a much shorter, easier to manage hairstyle. Which one makes more sense in the quasi military setting of Starfleet?
It displays a very narrow view of femininity and just like when Nichelle fought for her hair in the 70’s, it reveals that black actors have to fit in a much tinier box than white counterparts to conform to people’s expectation on screen.
[ID: two screenshots from “Star Trek: The Animated Series”, showing the Vulcan, Spock, saying “The photon torpedos will not respond, either.” (all caps). In the screenshot underneath is Lt. Uhura, a black woman, answering “Well, we could always throw rocks.” (all caps).
Next to these two screenshots are two other screenshots from “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. Both are showing Will Riker. He’s saying “If it should become necessary to fight, could you arrange to find me some rocks to throw at them?”
Underneath these 4 screenshots is the “epic handshake” meme. Over the black arm is the name “Uhura” and over the white arm is the name “Riker” written. Over their joined hands are the words “Just throw some goddamn rocks”. /end ID].
