We’re joined by special guest Caroline (aka rikerssexblouse) to discuss mothers in Star Trek.
Anika ran the stats, and we talked about specific characters, including…
- Beverly Crusher (TNG)
- Lwaxana Troi (TNG, DS9)
- Keiko O’Brien (TNG, DS9)
- Ishka (DS9)
- Samantha Wildman (VOY)
- Winona Kirk (ST2009)
- Tom Paris’s mother (who didn’t even get a name!) (VOY)
- Miral Torres (VOY)
- Amanda Grayson (TOS, ST2009, DSC)
- Philippa Georgiou (DSC)
- Gabrielle Burnham (DSC)
We also discussed recurring themes, such as…
- mothers who don’t get to parent their own children (Beverly Crusher, Samantha Wildman)
- parenthood and career paths in a post-scarcity future
- the complicated feminism of Jeri Taylor
- D. C. Fontana and “Friday’s Child” (TOS)
- Cersei Lannister versus Philippa Georgiou — redeeming monsters
- bad mothers and bad fathers — who does the audience forgive?
Some links:
- Where have all the SFF moms gone? by ForestofGlory
- Horrific pregnancies and dead mothers: motherhood in fiction and how I learnt to love my pregnant character by Aliette de Bodard, and its follow-up…
- On motherhood and erasure: people-shaped holes, hollow characters and the illusion of impossible adventures
Finally, I (Liz) went looking for a source for the quote I remembered from Lois McMaster Bujold, “Han Solo never had to call his mother”, and couldn’t find it. So if you know the source – especially if I’ve misattributed it – let me know!