Skip to main content

star trek - What's the origin of referring to female superior officers as "sir"?


It is well established in Star Trek: The Next Generation that female superior officers are normally referred to as sir. This is applied to Dr. Crusher, Counselor Troi, Cmdr. Shelby, Maj. Kira, Lt. Dax, and numerous admirals. This obviously fits in well with the egalitarian ideals of Star Trek.


This convention is made explicit in "Thine Own Self":



DATA: Counsellor, have you been promoted in my absence?



TROI: That's right. Which means from now on you can call me sir.


DATA: Yes, sir.



In Addition, the first episode of Star Trek: Voyager, "Caretaker" contains this dialog:



KIM: Thank you, sir.


JANEWAY: Mister Kim, at ease before you sprain something. Ensign, despite Starfleet protocol, I don't like being addressed as sir.


KIM: I'm sorry, ma'am.


JANEWAY: Ma'am is acceptable in a crunch, but I prefer Captain. We're getting ready to leave. Let me show you to the bridge.




which again establishes that sir is the norm, although Capt. Janeway doesn't prefer it.


Did this usage of the honorific sir start with ST: TNG or does it predate TNG in either sci-fi or the real world?



Related: What's the earliest in-universe reference to a female superior officer as "sir"?



Answer



Professor De Witt Douglas Kilgore, a specialist in English literature and cultural representation at Indiana University, has done significant research on race, gender, and equality in speculative fiction. In his book Astrofuturism: Science, Race, and Visions of Utopia in Space (2010), he attributes calling females "sir" to Star Trek :



The Star Trek franchise reinforced this idea by the convention of awarding its female officers the honorific "sir". This innovation was established in the second Star Trek film, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, dir. Nicholas Meyer, Paramount, 1982.



Likely, Kilgore is actually making reference to the use of "Mister Saavik" in the film, and perhaps equating it to "sir". At the very least, as "mister" is a male title, it foreshadows the use of "sir" in later Star Trek works. In any case, Kilgore's research suggests that we owe the use of "sir" as a bi-gender honorific to Star Trek, whether it first occurred in The Wrath of Khan or a few years later in TNG, at least as far as science fiction is concerned.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more