The Procrustean Petard

The Procrustean Petard is a Star Trek: TOS genderswap story by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath. It was printed in Star Trek: The New Voyages #2, under the Bantam Star Trek line edited by Gene Roddenberry.Myriad Universes: Star Trek: The New Voyages in March 4, 2014For other titles published on Star Trek: The New Voyages #2 see also the page Contented at Wikipedia Unlike its predecessor, it is one of the seven stories/poems (out of ten) in the book that was not previously published in a fanzine.
"The Procrustean Petard" highlighted the canon (at the time) fact that there were no female captains in Starfleet. The story has been accused of sexism for its depiction of genderswapped characters, particularly James Kirk as a female. The story was also criticized for depicting people with XYY chromosomes as overly aggressive and violent, a stereotype based on 1970s pseudoscience that has been widely debunked. In the 1970s, the "XYY male" was a popular concept. These "supermales" were assumed to be extremely aggressive and sexually dominant. This false premise is still used in crime novels and police procedurals and was used in this story, including a reference to Chicago murderer Richard Speck, who had brain abnormalities but not XYY.
Some of the early fanworks inspired by this story were parodies or reaction fics. Others expanded upon the original premise. 
"The Procrustean Petard" has also been cited as the inspiration for many genderswap fics both within and outside the Star Trek fandom. The genderswap trope became particularly common in Kirk/Spock stories. Many of these fanfics were influential in their own right, further popularizing the concept of genderswaps in fanfiction. "The Procrustean Petard" has been called a "fandom classic".Star Trek Book recs by monroemary 
With the advent of online fandom, some fans have shared scans or typed the full story to share with others, thereby bringing this story to a wider audience.
==Summaries==
==Description of the Story==
Answering a distress call from a planet where a dead civilization's advanced technology is still in operation, run by robots, the landing party runs afoul of a sex change machine in a "pleasure palace." The alien transporters start snatching people off the ship and putting them through the machine as well. As the crew investigates what's happened, they discover a Klingon ship in the same predicament and the adversaries have to work together to solve it. 
James Kirk has been transformed into a extremely attractive but weak and fragile woman. Spock immediately begins treating him as a helpless, defenseless girl, as Spock sees all Earthwomen as "fragile porcelain dolls". He and McCoy emphasize this to Kirk repeatedly. Not only is the "no female captains" rule from the TOS episode "Turnabout Intruder" still in effect, it is emphasized that his sexual magnetism as a female would cause him not to be taken seriously, and probably raped by every male with whom he came into contact. The Klingon males, who are now females, are described as feeling degraded and ashamed. 
Only Klingon captains Kang and Spock remain unchanged, and are later found to have been given an extra Y chromosome. They speculate this is due to their being "the strongest", although they acknowledge there may be other factors.
The solution is to fly over the planet again with the changed crewmembers, so that the machine will change them back. Only two security guards, engaged to be married, elect to stay as they are. Spock, passing through the machine again, is given another Y chromosome. 
 
==The Writers' Introduction in "The New Voyages"==
From Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath's introduction to the story:
==Fanworks Inspired by This Story==
===Star Trek TOS===
* The Etruscan Leotard by Gaylen Reiss (1979) ("Being thoroughly irritated with "The Procrustean Petard," I set out to write a humorous parody/satire to point out the story's faults. However, my version rapidly turned into a light-hearted/seriousness which, if nothing else, is closer to the attitude I believe the Enterprise crew would take, in place of the almost-simpering primitive fear of the original story.")
* One Way Street by Leigh Bideaux (1985) ("Based on Marshak and Culbreath’s short story, The Procrustean Petard. Kirk and Spock must deal with Kirk having been female… the repercussions from which are far from what either might have expected.")
* Bright Star (1986) by Roberta Haga ("The tale of Kirk and Spock's daughter whom Kirk bore after having changed into a woman through The Procrustean Petard.")
* "Hell to Pay" by M.C. Pehrson from the zine When Le'matyas Sleep #2 (1988) ("The tears spilled out then, and Kirk angrily wiped them away. HE never cried, but SHE was a woman now. Furious with herself, Kirk stretched to her full inadequate height..")
* One Winged Angels by Gina Moretti (1990) ("An enjoyable reworking of "The Procrustean Petard," with the bits put in that Marshak and Culbreath left out." from The LOC Connection #29 )
* In Any Reality by Jean Rohrer (1991) ("The encounter with Planet 135CXZ had been the most devastating of the adventures to befall the Enterprise and her crew — or at least to befall Captain James T. Kirk. Ancient machinery from a long dead civilization trapped unsuspecting space vessels, transported their crew to the planet and genetically altered their forms to the opposite gender, leaving the psyche apparently intact.")
Image:integrity-3.jpg |illo by Mariann Howarth from In Any Realty 
Image:integrity-4.jpg|illo by Mariann Howarth from In Any Realty
===Other Fandoms===
* Tarrant the Terrific (1991) by Carnella & Comatose (Blake's 7 story, parody of The Procrustean Petard in which the season 3 crew undergoes a similar transformation)
* My Fair Jeanne (1995) by Telesilla (An influential TNG genderswap story in which Jean-Luc Picard is turned into a woman. Winner in the 1995 ASC Awards Best Next Generation Story category.The Procustean Petard by Marshak and Culbreath, post by telesilla (2009))
* Impossibly Delightful Flesh (2004) by Sadbhyl (Buffy the Vampire Slayer story. The author said: "I got the basic premise for this from a very old Star Trek fan fiction (read twenty years ago. yes, I've been a fan girl that long), titled The Procrustean Petard by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath_."Filters and Inpiration, a LJ post by Sadbhyl, 2004.)
==Reactions and Reviews==
===Unknown Date===
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==Notes==
==References==
Category:Gen Fanfiction
Category:1978 Fanfiction‎
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