I read in a comment somewhere that some of the female extras were wearing trousers. Is it possible that it's one of the available options? Either way, I agree that being forced to wear a miniskirt is problematic, but I appreciate the fact they more of less stuck to the theme of the original series costumes (ok, while making them look less like pyjamas, obviously).
This reboot does keep to the original's view of women and women's role in the Trek verse, which was changed in STNG, DS9, and the films. Women are treated as support, girlfriends, wives, mothers - they aren't part of the assault team, and they wear sexy clothes. It was a legitimate critique of the original Trek but also a critique of that time period. It is also why a lot of my female friends didn't like the original Trek - and much preferred the latter series.
Oh, I agree. It's why I've tried to watch original!Trek a few times only to give up repeatedly. Not that latter Treks are perfect, but even if you take someone like Seven Of Nine from Voyager, she might have fitted every fanboy's wet dream (and worn the most ridiculous catsuit), but she also got to do DO stuff (sometimes to the extent she made the rest of the crew look kind of like Props in the Seven of Nine Show, but that's another discussion), and was terribly smart, competent and could break your spine with her little finger. So while there were issues with the character, I loved Seven.
That said: I am not sure we critique the writers for choosing to go this route, since they were sticking more or less with the canonical view of the original. It would look odd if they did away with how these people were dressed completely or some of the sexism - since the story is told pretty much from Kirk and Spock's pov, and Kirk was chauvinistic and a bit of a sexist jerk - hence Uruha's constant rejection of him. Spock -older and more enlightened, although even on Vulcan - the majority of the elders and students were male. So Spock also that view - she is his student, his support. Note it is Kirk that gets through to him. So the story is told from a decidedly white male perspective but then it always was, so that is in keeping with the original.
I think Vulcan (and human) society in the original series was sexist though. And on the matter of Uhura, I didn't see her in a support role any more than the rest of the cast (minus Kirk and Spock). She didn't kick ass physically, but the only other minor character who did was Sulu. So in a sense yeah, maybe the series mirrors some of the original's failings, but I really bought into Uhura as a character rather than the girlfriend.
Re: Short Skirts
This reboot does keep to the original's view of women and women's role in the Trek verse, which was changed in STNG, DS9, and the films. Women are treated as support, girlfriends, wives, mothers - they aren't part of the assault team, and they wear sexy clothes. It was a legitimate critique of the original Trek but also a critique of that time period. It is also why a lot of my female friends didn't like the original Trek - and much preferred the latter series.
Oh, I agree. It's why I've tried to watch original!Trek a few times only to give up repeatedly. Not that latter Treks are perfect, but even if you take someone like Seven Of Nine from Voyager, she might have fitted every fanboy's wet dream (and worn the most ridiculous catsuit), but she also got to do DO stuff (sometimes to the extent she made the rest of the crew look kind of like Props in the Seven of Nine Show, but that's another discussion), and was terribly smart, competent and could break your spine with her little finger. So while there were issues with the character, I loved Seven.
That said: I am not sure we critique the writers for choosing to go this route, since they were sticking more or less with the canonical view of the original. It would look odd if they did away with how these people were dressed completely or some of the sexism - since the story is told pretty much from Kirk and Spock's pov, and Kirk was chauvinistic and a bit of a sexist jerk - hence Uruha's constant rejection of him. Spock -older and more enlightened, although even on Vulcan - the majority of the elders and students were male. So Spock also that view - she is his student, his support. Note it is Kirk that gets through to him. So the story is told from a decidedly white male perspective but then it always was, so that is in keeping with the original.
I think Vulcan (and human) society in the original series was sexist though. And on the matter of Uhura, I didn't see her in a support role any more than the rest of the cast (minus Kirk and Spock). She didn't kick ass physically, but the only other minor character who did was Sulu. So in a sense yeah, maybe the series mirrors some of the original's failings, but I really bought into Uhura as a character rather than the girlfriend.