The Most Attractive Women Of Star Trek TNG

I've blogged earlier about my favourite episodes of Star Trek - The Next Generation, and about Captain Picard's finest moments. My reminiscences wouldn't be complete without a listing of the women I found most attractive in this series.

[Don't ask me "Why haven't you listed so-and-so?" Go and create your own list!]

In no particular order, therefore:

1. Ishara Yar (played by Beth Toussaint)

Season 4 Episode 06 "Legacy"

Tasha Yar's younger sister Ishara makes an appearance in this episode, and everyone who was heartbroken at Tasha's unexpected death in "Skin of Evil" (which is just about everyone) feels an immediate kinship with her younger sibling, a feeling that is entirely misplaced. Nevertheless, Ishara is something.

With a hairstyle that is both boyish and feminine, Ishara ticks many boxes

That suit! Only an android could sit there unmoved.

2. Kamala (played by Famke Janssen)

Season 5 Episode 21 "The Perfect Mate"

Yet another sad love story for Captain Picard. The empathic metamorph Kamala isn't supposed to emerge from her cocoon until she's ready to be gifted to Alrik, the leader of one of two warring worlds, as a peace offering that will end their war. She is the perfect mate, because she "bonds" with a man when she emerges from the cocoon, and with her empathic abilities, can be everything he wants. And she too is irresistible to men when she is fresh out of the cocoon. Alas, she has emerged too early, and instead bonds with Captain Picard, and he falls for her too. But duty calls, and she has to be given away to Alrik. Picard stoically swallows his grief and lets her go, and she, having imbibed his sense of duty, goes with Alrik. 

More than her looks, it is her potential to be the perfect soul mate that makes Kamala attractive. Of course, her looks don't hurt at all.

3. Salia (played by Jaime Hubbard)

Season 2 Episode 10 "The Dauphin"

Wesley Crusher's crush is the sweetly innocent Dauphin of Daled IV, whose presence is required on her home planet to bring about peace after a generations-long civil war. Of course, this isn't what she really looks like, which should be some consolation to Wesley when they inevitably have to part.

You wouldn't want to know what she really looks like when not in human form...

4. Ardra (played by Marta Dubois)

Season 4 Episode 13 "Devil's Due"

A planet is being terrorised by the demoness Ardra, who claims the planet as hers. Since Star Trek is not a serial that entertains notions of ghosts and spirits, the Enterprise crew manages to show up Ardra as nothing more than a con-woman. But man, what a con-woman!

A saucy she-devil

5. Brenna Odell (played by Rosalyn Landor)

Season 2 Episode 18 "Up The Long Ladder"

What is this woman even doing in this collection?

One word - hips

6. BG Robinson (played by Teri Hatcher)

Season 2 Episode 04 "The Outrageous Okona"

Teri Hatcher is an interesting woman. Her face has changed a great deal over the years, no doubt due to cosmetic surgery. This is how she looked when she played Lt Bronwyn Gail Robinson.

The Transporter Chief whose face could transport a thousand ships

Teri Hatcher as the cute, silly and scatterbrained Penny Parker in MacGyver

Teri Hatcher as the cool and professional-looking Lois Lane in Lois and Clark

Teri Hatcher as the sophisticated New Yorker Sidra Holland in Seinfeld

7a. Dr Selar (played by Suzie Plakson)

Season 2 Episode 6 "The Schizoid Man"

Suzie Plakson got to play two different aliens in the series. The first was an all-too-brief appearance as the Vulcan doctor, Dr Selar.

Vulcans have no business to be preaching logic and control of emotion to other people while looking so sultry

Maybe it was for the best that Dr Selar didn't stick around beyond one episode. Patients probably weren't leaving sickbay.

7b. K'Ehleyr (played by Suzie Plakson)

Season 2 Episode 20 "The Emissary"

Season 4 Episode 07 "Reunion"

Suzie Plakson may have made only one appearance as Dr Selar, but she shortly reappeared as the half-Klingon K'Ehleyr.

Attitude. Bold women do something to me.

In full Klingon battle dress

Her human side gave K'Ehleyr a sense of humour that Klingons are generally incapable of

8. Ro Laren (played by Michelle Forbes)

Season 5 Episode 03 "Ensign Ro"

Season 5 Episode 05 "Disaster"

Season 5 Episode 14 "Conundrum"

Season 5 Episode 24 "The Next Phase"

Season 6 Episode 07 "Rascals"

Season 7 Episode 24 "Preemptive Strike"

Ro Laren was a most interesting character, and I wish she had starred in more episodes. She was a free-spirited maverick who didn't think twice about talking to her captain on equal terms. And Picard, being Picard, wasn't affronted but indulged her.

The sass is strong with this one. Oops, sorry, wrong franchise.

It's not hard to tell that I really like Ro Laren.

9. Dr Beverly Crusher (played by Gates McFadden)

Series regular (except for Season 2)

As the mother of a teenager, Dr Beverly Crusher played an older woman, but she had a definite appeal of her own.

She was strong and smart, and rarely lost her head, except when it came to her son Wesley

Nothing really happens between her and Picard throughout the series, but in the last episode "All Good Things", the future Picard and Crusher are shown to be already divorced.

The natural air of command with which she sat in the captain's chair in "Remember Me" and said "Engage!" was a sight worth seeing.

10. Counselor Deanna Troi (played by Marina Sirtis)

Series regular

Last, but not the least. The empath with the exotic accent is a favourite with Trekkies, and who am I to argue?

Captain Jellico was an unquestionable jerk in "Chain of Command", but the one good thing he did was order Troi to stop wearing that silly pajama suit and start wearing a regular uniform.

That was an excellent decision. She's looked smart ever since.

The many outfits of Deanna Troi (click to expand). My opinion, from left to right: glamorous, silly, silly, silly, smart, impossible-to-take-seriously.

And one for the record books. Deanna Troi in disguise as a Romulan agent of the Tal Shiar secret service, in the episode "Face of the Enemy"

[Related post: My Celebrity Crushes Down The Ages]

When Good Sense Seasons Justice - The Justice Verma Committee's Report

After weeks of hearing nothing but the most mediaeval claptrap emerging from the mouths of India's public figures, it was a pleasant shock to read page after page of sweet reason in the long-awaited report of the Justice JS Verma Committee. The report, modestly titled "Amendments to Criminal Law", can be thought of as the thinking man's (or woman's) reasoned response to the brutal gang rape in Delhi in December last year. I would recommend that people at least download the document and skim through it, because it's almost a mini-degree in liberal arts for the aspiring cultural sophisticate.

The references in this report to the Indian constitution reminded me of the mental model that I have of the Indian justice system, without which I find it an infuriatingly contradictory mess. When one understands the Indian system of law as comprising three different layers that represent three completely different world-views, the madness becomes partially understandable.

A simple explanation of India's legal schizophrenia (click to expand)

[Of course, this is a gross oversimplification, and can be faulted on several levels. Still, I believe it represents a fairly good working model that explains the often puzzling contradictions between the various voices that are heard in Indian forums.]

Justice (Retd) JS Verma, a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, flanked by Justice (Retd) Leila Seth, former Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and former Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium

I especially like the following aspects of the JS Verma Committee report:

1. It recognises the multi-faceted nature of the problem and does not come up with facile and simplistic solutions. It blames lacunae in the law, lax enforcement, an unsympathetic officialdom and a pervasive culture of patriarchy, and then follows them up with recommendations in all these areas.

2. It recognises the concept of "marital rape", which should come as a welcome cultural shock to Indian society.

3. It unwraps the national flag from around the armed forces, explicitly recommending that soldiers be held accountable for crimes against women in disturbed areas under the control of the military. Any criticism of the military has been considered unpatriotic, and armed forces personnel have operated with impunity for far too long under the protection of the AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act). A similarly uncowed treatment of police misbehaviour occupies a full section.

4. It resists the pressure of the mob baying for blood by ruling out death and castration for rape. The maximum recommended sentence for rape is life imprisonment with no chance of parole. We are reminded that we are talking about justice here, not revenge or retribution. India cannot and must not be a Saudi Arabia.

5. It excoriates traditional "morality" with many examples, such as the misplaced notion of "honour" and the outrageous idea that rape victims ought to marry their offenders for the problem to be "solved". It also quotes from Sohaila Abdulali's famous autobiographical article on why rape is horrible (hint: it has nothing to do with the loss of "honour" or "virtue").

6. It highlights the need to recognise the rights of citizens with different gender identities and sexual orientations, such as gay and transgender people.

7. It guides Indian law towards greater compliance with UN resolutions and international treaties. No country is an island; there is a web of shared values that needs to tie human civilisation together. It demolishes the stereotypes of Indian women versus Western women that have characterised even some Supreme Court judgements.

8. It comprehensively addresses the issue of sexual harassment and has a number of recommendations not just for the government but also for independent tribunals and for employers of all kinds.

9. It does not neglect various other forms of violence and injustice, such as acid attacks, domestic violence, human trafficking (with very moving testimony from victims), dowry-related harassment, child sexual abuse, the notorious Khap Panchayats, etc.

10. It addresses the need to improve public safety for women and provide better amenities. It also lays out a very comprehensive code of practice for the medical and legal examination of sexual assault victims.

11. It doesn't shy away from raising the issue of electoral reforms, given that so many MPs have rape and molestation charges against them.

12. It talks about educational reform and social engineering to improve perceptions.

In short, this is an amazing document. In much the same way that Thomas Huxley was "Darwin's Bulldog", the Justice Verma Committee's report is the Indian constitution's bulldog. It can shock awake the conscience of those who read it.

Refreshingly, the report does not artificially curtail its content in the interests of conciseness. It is 630 pages long. It recognises that certain things need to be said, and that this is the most opportune time in Indian history to say them, a time that President Obama would call a "teachable moment". It is a comprehensive critique of everything that is wrong with Indian society and Indian systems where the treatment of women, children and the "different" are concerned. And it only took 30 days to produce!

Much has been made of India as a civilisation, and the scriptures that are deemed the spiritual foundation of that civilisation. But if India as a nation is ever to be thought of as truly civilised in the modern sense of the term, this document could well be the moral foundation on which such a civilised society is based.

Australia's Pink Revolution

It seems that only the sudden elevation of Julia Gillard as Australia's first female Prime Minister has caught the world's eye, but a quiet revolution has been underway for a while.

The pictures here speak louder than words.

Australia's Head of State - Governor-General Quentin Bryce

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Environment Minister Penny Wong

Deputy Leader of the Federal Opposition Julie Bishop

New South Wales Governor Marie Bashir

New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh

And that's just the political sphere. There are scores of women in the federal and state parliaments, including some ministers. This is just the set of those who have risen to a position of unquestioned eminence.

Business has been less progressive, but here too, the bastions have begun to fall.

Gail Kelly, CEO of Australia's largest bank (Westpac)

A quiet social revolution has been taking place in Australia, and while the country can obviously lay legitimate claim to the label of an equal-opportunity society (don't let the focus on gender distract you from the ethnicity of Marie Bashir and Penny Wong above), a recent article titled The Invisible Men uncovers a new and possibly disturbing side to modern Australian gender relations.

Watch this space. This is no decadent society. This is social ferment at its best.