My favourite science fiction heroine has to be Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew)– the first and only female commander to lead a Star Trek series – she’s battled it all, from the Maquis, Vulcans, Klingons and Romulans to the Q, the Borg, Cardassians, Bajorans, Betazoids and Ferengi – on their return journey home in Voyager. During the Captains’ Summit at Destination Star Trek London on 19th October 2012, Kate Mulgrew said the role was one of her proudest achievements, one which has probably helped inspire thousands of girls into science. Unlike the over-endowed de-assimilated borg female SevenofNine (Jeri Ryan) or the aggressive klingon-human hybrid officer B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) that are both stereotypical female characters in many ways, Janeway is able to retain all of her femininity and maintain control as Captain. Kate’s character is fearless, courageous and yet contemplative at times. Janeway exhibits her management skills in merging the renegade Maquis (including First Officer Chakotay and Chief Engineer B’Elanna Torres) within her own crew and handles with diplomatic aplomb the other alien characters in the series.
Kathryn Janeway is a powerful role model for young girls, apart from being captain and managing the computer wreck that is the USS Voyager’s Emergency Medical Holographic program and Chief Medical Officer, she also gets to use lots of scientific tools – the tricorder, the phaser gun, the personal communicator. All are high-tech gadgets that appeal top both sexes, so it is a little depressing that these are almost always found in the aisle for boys toys. While the 1960’s Star Trek ‘The Original Series’ featured girls in short dresses, by the time ‘The Next Generation’ and ‘Voyager’ came along the fashion had become one of jump suits and alien make-up. What remained throughout the Star Trek series was the strength of female characters. Strong female role models are important for young girls to identify with and the Star Trek series has come of the best.
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