Transgenderism on Star Trek TOS

[racquelr]

So, I've been watching all of the old original Star Trek episodes on Paramount Plus and got to the last episode last night, "Turnabout Intruder"
In this episode, Dr. Janice Lester (a former lover of Kirk's) uses an alien device to swap bodies with Captain Kirk so she can take over the Enterprise and finally be a starship captain (something she feels she was denied because Starfleet was sexist against women). Eventually, the crew realizes what's happened and Kirk and Janice swap back to their original bodies at the end (Kirk as Janice would have to have been killed for Janice to remain in Kirk's body permanently which is something she was trying arrange througout the episode).

Anyway, I found the whole idea very intriguing and thought how great would it be if my mind could be transferred into the body of a woman for a day at will.
There was an especially interesting scene where "Kirk" as Janice is running down the corridor of the Enterprise in was was essentially lingerie, breasts bouncing, hair flowing and I couldn't help but think how great that would feel.
What fun that would be!
How many of us have wished we could do that?

Unfortunately, the episode really didn't delve into deeper topics of gender identity, nor really go into what life was like for Kirk as a woman, but it still seemed like an interesting story for them to air back in the mid 60's.

[Gail_veiled]

I remember reading that William Shatner was sick for the entire filming of this episode and that it's considered by many to be one of the worst of the show's run. I always thought it was a very interesting premise and definitely ahead of it's time, as were so many of the Star Trek episodes. Maybe my like of it was a precursor for later desires :thinking:

I was always intrigued by body / gender swap Sci-Fi themes like Jack Chalker's Well of Souls or Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon book series.

[Traci H]

I have seen that episode at least twice as I have for all in the series. I did find it interesting the fun they had with it back then. I have been watching the Haven series on Prime, and in one episode they also had fun with body switching. Funny watching a 35 year old male now in the body of a 70 yo woman, as he felt his new found breasts.

[docrobbysherry]

I found that idea so fascinating that I had to try it nearly 20 years ago! Now, using a silicone female suit I can do it whenever the mood strikes.:battingeyelashes:

I know the feeling of wearing a suit and being in a real female body r not the same. And, these full prosthesis aren't for everyone. But, that an 80 y/o man can look in a mirror and see himself as a naked, young woman still blows my mind!:eek:

See avatar!:daydreaming:

[JayBird]

There is a TNG episode where Dr Crusher falls in love with an entity that uses humanoid bodies as a host body that was male. The body was dying so they were able to get a new host body that was female. Dr. Crusher couldn?t be in love with the same person that was now a woman. It always made me think of gender and sexual attraction.

[OrdinaryAverageGuy]

I've referenced that episode many time on here when I mentioned "Star Trek tech or Harry Potter magic" as the only ways to truly become a woman. I'd sign up in a heartbeat, as long as I got a return ticket as well. :)

[racquelr]

There is a TNG episode where Dr Crusher falls in love with an entity that uses humanoid bodies as a host body that was male. The body was dying so they were able to get a new host body that was female. Dr. Crusher couldn?t be in love with the same person that was now a woman. It always made me think of gender and sexual attraction.

I'm going to start a re-watch of the full run of TNG soon - I don't think I've ever seen all of the episodes.
I don't recall this one - was the entity a Trill, or something else?
On DS9, Jadzia Dax is a trill that in the past her symbiont had been male and female - that seemed like it could be interesting to have had both perspectives in a single consciousness.

[VivianNewkirk]

Among the other times modern Trek has taken on these themes is the 5th season TNG episode "The Outcast", where Riker falls for a member of the J'naii species, which has no gender. The J'naii find relationships with the gendered perverse, leading to drama.

[Jamie001]

After becoming Janice Lester, why would Kirk ever want to go back to being male? She was a pretty lady!

[DianeT]

Body swapping fuels so many transgender fantasies.
The essence of my crossdressing is to try to feel what it feels like to be a woman, by means of transforming my physical presentation and the physical sensations of my body. This explains why some tight-fitting elements are necessary because they provide a tactile feedback that is an unusual experience for a guy and reinforces the magic of transformation, the vertigo of alienation. I am still me, but an altered version of me.
All this is a mental construction that, as sweet and enjoyable as it can be, is totally artificial. The bouncing boobs sensation, that many CDers dig, is probably sought after not just because it can be a feminine experience, but because it excites us as a thing when we see it happening to a woman. This transposition of something that excites us when it is external to us, to something we attempt to internalize as an experience by working the thing on our own body, is both something totally vain, because we'll never experience it the way a woman will (well endowed women probably rarely get excited by the bouncing of their own breasts, it's presumably more getting in the way than anything else), and at the same time a core element of the practice of crossdressing for some of us. And is awfully difficult to convey and explain to non-CDers, in particular our wives. Many will be tempted to characterize it as so-called "autogynephilia". It would qualify if we were excited by the prospect of making love to what we see in the mirror. But in this particular instance we are not excited by the female we see in the mirror, we are excited by the idea, the dizzying sensation of being that female. Which is a completely different thing. The belief in the first explanation is probably why it's troubling for my wife to see me wearing pantyhose because it competes with her own wearing of it. But in reality it doesn't. When wearing pantyhose I don't get excited by what I see. I am troubled, in a sweet and delightful way, by what I "become", by the perceived femininity it infuses into me, or maybe simply reveals.

[JayBird]

Yes, Racquel, it was Odan who was a trill ambassador.

Vivian, I was also thinking of Riker and the species with no gender as well!,!

I also vaguely remember some episodes either season 1 or 2 where there are male crew members wearing the short skirt uniforms.

- - - Updated - - -

But going back to Dr Crusher and Odan, I think of my wife, who when I came out to her, she made it clear she is not going to be married to a woman, which is how Dr Crusher felt. From this forum it seems many of our wives feel the same.