A Klingon in a skirt?

Since returning to our screens in 2017, Star Trek has continued to explore the final frontier. Each of the new series has had a very different feel, and explored a different aspect of life in that universe while staying true to the core beliefs of Star Trek. Stay curious. Explore. Build connections and communities, with respect to cultures different to your own. We’ve had a show set before The Original Series, an animated series set after Voyager and most recently a show set 1,000 years after Kirk flirted with a Gorn. On the whole, I’ve enjoyed them all but recognise that some episodes didn’t quite work for me. It isn’t perfect. No Star Trek series is, but I’m glad they keep telling new stories and boldly going.

The most recent series, Starfleet Academy, is a young adult themed show that I was initially sceptical about. I’m not a young adult, so why would I want to see kids being kids? Well, if anything, Star Trek teaches you to remain open minded about strange new worlds. I’m glad I did because the new show is very Star Trek. It takes something you know and love and views it through a youthful lens to give you a different perspective on it. I feel like it’s a good way to stay young at heart rather than raging against the world because a show about exploring new ideas has actual new ideas, instead of replaying the hits.

One of the new ideas that has made the “fans” angry is a male Klingon in a skirt. Apparently a being living over 1,000 years from now, and in the truest sense from an alien culture, cannot wear a skirt. Who are any of us to say what someone from another culture can or cannot wear?

By having a male bodied person in a skirt, and making people angry, Star Trek is doing what it does best and highlighting contemporary issues on our world rather than theirs. Some have suggested it’s a skant from TNG, but it’s not. The skant was essentially a shirt dress. Jay-Den is definitely wearing a pleated skirt, just like the female characters are. And he’s wearing it without issue. In the show the Klingon, Jay-Den, casually walks past a friend and says “Hello”, all while wearing a skirt. No-one makes a comment about it because you don’t think about what is normal and in the 32nd century it is normal for a male person to wear a skirt if they chose to.

I enjoy that the writers have done this because it’s 100% normal Star Trek. When TNG launched in the late 80s, people were upset that the captain was bald. At a press conference, someone pointed out that they should have found a cure for baldness by the 23rd century. Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry, replied that they wouldn’t care about it by then. A valid point. There are things from our past that we no longer give any thought to. One of which is men wearing skirts. They used to wear them and it wasn’t an issue, but now it is. So surely by the 32nd century it won’t be again? It’s why I’m confident wearing a skirt. People won’t care about it in the future.

Links

• ‘I’ve lost my friends’: advocacy groups warn Australia’s social media ban risks isolating kids with disabilities | Social media ban | The Guardian. Despite the ban’s aim to protect young people, experts are concerned that those in marginalised communities or living with disabilities could lose vital support networks
• Masking In Makeup: Being An Autistic Drag Queen - Coco Fabulicious. Coco Fabulicious autistic, queer creative shares how drag became a lifeline—transforming masking, isolation and sensory overwhelm into joy, self-expression and belonging.
• Laura Plays Train Sim on a Train - Brighton to London Victoria - Class 377. I play Train Sim Classic on a matching class / route using a Raildriver controller. Pretty even route / arrival time matches from Hayward's Heath to East Cro...
• Pilot Captures Amazing Aurora Photos During Flight. This week, the Earth was hit with one of the strongest geomagnetic storms in recent years, which made for some gobsmacking dis
• Blogs - Michelle Baharier - Artist Michelle Baharier on Process, Photography and Making a Living as an Artist. Hello, my name is artist Michelle Baharier, and I wanted to share some insight into my creative process and the different aspects of my art practice. Alongside making paintings and running campaigns, I also create original art products from my images. Yes, I do sell my art on products, because…
• From selfie filters to 'bikini pics', what does it mean to post your body online?. Playing with online displays of bodies, a new generation of artists is exploring the freedoms and restrictions of the digital world
• C'était Paris en 1970. Photographies numérisées du fonds C'était Paris en 1970