From: jeffo@uiuc.edu (J.B. Nicholson-Owens)
Subject: Re: Troi is capable of wearing a uniform (SPOILERS)
Reply-To: jeffo@uiuc.edu (J.B. Nicholson-Owens)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1992 09:02:40 GMT

David Toland writes
> What, you want fashion police on board the Enterprise?

I never asked for any such thing.  I think that what she wears is not a  
uniform that anyone else wears and that it is not something that a  
professional should wear.  I feel this way because I don't think that a  
regular shirt and pants (such as what other women on the Enterprise  
wear) would be offensive to anyone on or off the ship.

There are examples of people outside the ship who have been attracted  
to her when both their duties were perfectly clear.  One such example  
is the man who was capable of putting his negative emotions onto other  
people was attracted to her from the time he stepped off the  
transporter pad.  Only he can say if it was her face that drew his  
attention so quickly, however her normal attire makes her stick out  
from the rest of the ship.

> It covers her [..]

It covers her as a coat of paint would, that is, it barely covers her.   
It draws attention to every aspect of her body and attempts to push her  
breasts against her chin.  In fact, Marina Sirtis has been quoted as  
saying something to the effect of "Where did [my breasts] go?" when she  
takes off that costume.  Bringing attention to one's body is not  
relevant to her purpose for being on the ship.

If it is true that it is easier for patients to communicate with Troi  
when she is out of uniform, why she cannot wear clothes that not only  
cover her, but cover her in the way that other women's clothes on the  
ship cover them is something which very few people on this group have  
answered in a way that can not be successfully rebutted with ease.

I have never seen her change clothes for a counseling session,  
therefore I have no reason to believe that she would ever do so.  Yet,  
if she were counseling someone who could communicate to women only  
sexually, her attire for that counselling would be most inappropriate.   
I also don't think that such problems with crew members would be  
outside the realm of possibility.  Especially with the holodeck  
providing immediate access to virtual women so easily.

The most common of such answers is that the producers (or those with a  
lot of money invested in the show) feel that by showing Marina Sirtis'  
body, they will be doing something that will cause the show's ratings  
to increase and/or continue the ratings they've acquired.  Not unlike  
beer ads, exercise equipment ads, diet ads, etc. (where you never see  
men's penises being pushed out for easy view), the producers feel that  
by having continuous gratuitous female near-nudity, they are doing  
something good for the show which will, in turn, do something good for  
their bank accounts.

Mike Porter writes
> Actually, Jeff, if you really wanted to make your point [..]

True, and a very good point.  I recall that episode (where Wesley  
visits the planet of skimpily-clothed very sexually active people) and  
I too think it was very much as you described.

Scott A Zakon writes
> Jellico, in slamming Troi, told her to wear a STANDARD uniform. [..]

He does say those words, however I doubt that what she was wearing  
would be a uniform, surely not a "light duty" uniform as you suggest.   
I think this to be true because no other person on the entire ship has  
been seen wearing what she does, and I sincerely doubt that out of all  
the beings on the ship, no two of them would have similar tastes in  
uniform preference.  In addition, in an episode where a communicable  
disease was going around the ship making people feel as if they were  
drunk, Yar wandered into Troi's room and rummaged through her closet  
looking for sexually provocative clothing to match her very sexual  
feelings.  This in itself makes me think that it is quite clear to  
others on the ship that what Troi wears is sexually provocative and not  
intended to make others feel at ease (in in fact would probably be more  
likely to make women feel uneasy; also, on this very newsgroup in this  
limited discussion I have noticed how there has not been a single woman  
who has said that what Troi wears is okay).

Put simply, Troi's body shape and the size of her breasts have nothing  
to do with either her job as Lt. Commander nor Ship's Counselor.  She  
would be able to do her job just as well were she to wear a regular  
shirt and pants not unlike what the other women on the ship wear. 

Another problem with Troi's attire as it relates to reality is that  
Marina Sirtis has been quoted as saying that she feels uncomfortable  
wearing the bustiers and girdles that she must to get the Deanna Troi  
look.  In fact, she has said that she has fainted more than once due to  
lack of oxygen caused by restrictive clothing.  And yet we never see  
her character, Deanna Troi, fainting or suffering from oxygen  
deprivation.  This disparity of what actually happens to women who wear  
this kind of clothing and what happens to fictional characters only  
promotes the unrealistic expectations for real-life women.

I have only scratched the surface on this issue.  There are other  
points that other readers and I have raised that I didn't say again  
(check previous posts for those points).  For further reading on how  
damaging images such as the (literally) bound-up Deanna Troi are, check  
out:

* Backlash by Susan Faludi
* The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolfe
(both are current and well worth reading.  There is much more of such  
literature worth reading)
-- 
-- Jeff (jeffo@uiuc.edu)
-- NeXTmail welcome