Star Trek is an ongoing science-fiction series that came about in 1966 with the kickoff of the original series. Throughout the timeline of this well-praised science fiction show, the ship was mostly lead by masculine Starfleet personnel, minus the exception of Captain Rachel Garrett.
Most of the women portrayed in roles in the sci-fi series either died or followed a man around during mission, for example, Edith Keller or Uhura who were both attached to Kirk and Spock by the storyline of the episodes.
In 2018 a new Star Trek series was brought to the world of science fiction. This new series brings a lot to the table when it comes to women representation. We are introduced to the captain of the U.S.S Discovery, who is a strong badass woman named Captain Philippa Georgiou, played by Michelle Yeoh. Georgiou takes full control of the USS Discovery and takes no shit.
In addition to a female captain we are introduced to Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martin-Green, she is a strong woman who is incredibly smart and heroic. Not only is she the first human to attend the Vulcan Learning Center and Vulcan Learning Academy but she is also the Scientific Specialist aboard the USS Discovery.
Another outstanding role played by a female is Sylvia Tilly, she is played by Mary Wieman. Sylvia Tilly is an incredibly intelligent cadet aboard the USS Discovery. She may work under the command of a male character, but she has no issues standing up for herself and taking the lead of the ship and doing everything in her power to make sure that her crew is safe at all times.
In addition to these three strong women, the USS Discovery and Starfleet have done a very good job at creating a strong representation of intelligent and heroic woman involved in the series.
Here are a few more:
Katrina Cornwell, the Starfleet Admirable
Keyla Detmer, Discovery’s helmsman
Ellen Landry, Security Officer for Discovery
And finally, not related to the Starfleet or the USS DIscovery there is a female Klingon leader named L’Rell. L’Rell is a fearless leader of the Klingons who takes command of the Klingon community.
These strong female characters are paving the path for science fiction to introduce strong female leaders. Not only do these women create the best Star Trek series, in my opinion, they are also amazing leaders for little girls and boys to look up to as inspirations. I congratulate the directors and the whole crew of this series on what they are doing for women in the future of science fiction.