InterTREKtional InterTREKtional

Hi Intertrekkies! Here’s a rerun of our ode to the Borg Queen, dedicated to all you Picard-watchers out there. And don’t worry, we’ll have a totally fresh Q ep out to you soonsoon!

Repulsive yet seductive, powerful and enigmatic, the Borg Queen is one of our favorite Star Trek villains. In preparation for Star Trek: Picard, Becca and Ryan kick off InterTREKtional Season Two with this deep look at the Borg’s baddest bitch. The film Star Trek: First Contact, and Voyager episodes ”Dark Frontier” (S5:E15/16) and ”Unimatrix Zero” (S6:E26; S7:E:1) are discussed.

Uh-oh! You've just experienced a transporter accident, and now everyone around you looks the same but is acting very strange. Your midriff is exposed, and your coworkers are making aggressive sexual advances. Welcome to the (dun dun dunnn) Mirror Universe. Don't worry, Becca and Ryan are here to hold your hand, while we explore how queerness and kink are used as shorthand for EEEEVIL.  
******Mild Spoiler Alerts for: Star Trek Mirror Universe eps, The Suicide Squad, Stargate SG1, Rick and Morty (S5E5), and Netflix's Bonding.******  
 
What We Watched
More or less, all of the Mirror Universe episodes: see Memory Alpha  
 
Reviews!  
Becca's Review: The Suicide Squad - tl;dr: just don't.  
Ryan's Review: Stargate SG1 - racist! jingoistic! fun!  
 
Queer Villainy  
Opinion: TV producers, stop portraying bisexuals as villains by Zachary Zane via Washington Post  

Many bisexual TV characters lack a moral compass. They exploit their own sexuality as a means to get ahead. They’re also unabashedly shameless in their actions, never having an ounce of remorse. It is as if, for these fictional bisexual characters, sexual fluidity equals moral fluidity. In this regard, sexuality is not seen as an identity, but rather, as a personality trait.

The tropes, as identified by GLAAD (from report WHERE WE ARE ON TV 2015-16)
bisexual characters who are depicted as untrustworthy, prone to infidelity, and/or lacking a sense of morality
characters who use sex as a means of manipulation or who are lacking the ability to form genuine relationships
associations with self-destructive behavior
and treating a character’s attraction to more than one gender as a temporary plot device that is rarely addressed again  
Why Are So Many Bisexuals On TV Also Sociopaths? by Hannah Harris Green via BuzzFeed.News  
The Trope of the Evil Television Bisexual by Spencer Kornhaber via The Atlantic   
4 Terrible Bisexuality Tropes on TV — And 4 Portrayals That Defy Them by Gillian Brown via The Body is Not An Apology 
Depraved Bisexual via TVTropes  
 
Kink Shaming  
The Generational Clash at Pride Is Actually a Sign of Progress by Spencer Kornhaber via The Atlantic 
Bondage Is Bad & Sex Is Evil via TVTropes
Painful Therefore Pleasurable - Rick and Morty (clip) via YouTube 
 

Y'all WE DID A LIVE SHOW!!! Behold Becca and Ryan discussing asylum seekers/refugees in the universes of Trek and "the real." Recorded live as part of the IDIC Podcast Festival hosted by Women at Warp this past July 17-18, 2021. Donate to Never Again Action.  
Hit it.  
P.S. seriously check out the other podcasts in this festival, they are LEGIT     
 
What We Watched
Sanctuary DS9 2x10   
Short Treks S1: Brightest Star   
Masterpiece Society TNG 5x13   
Cogenitor ENT 2x22   
Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night DS9 6x17   
Honorable Mentions   
The Disease VOY 5x17   
Generations   
The Sound of Thunder DIS S2E6   
Absolute Candor PIC 1x04   
 
References
Memory Alpha - Refugee
Memory Alpha - Political asylum
 
Migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants: What’s the difference? via International Rescue Committee 

Currently, there are 68.5 million men, women and children escaping war, persecution and political turbulence. These are refugees and asylum seekers.
There are others who are looking for jobs or an education—they are usually called migrants—and people who want to live permanently in another country—immigrants.


A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her home because of war, violence or persecution, often without warning…. An official entity such as a government or the United Nations Refugee Agency determines whether a person seeking international protection meets the definition of a refugee, based on well-founded fear. 
An asylum seeker is someone who is also seeking international protection from dangers in his or her home country, but whose claim for refugee status hasn’t been determined legally.

 
America’s asylum system is broken. Here’s how Biden could fix it. by Nicole Narea via Vox

Since 2014, the majority of asylum seekers arriving at the US Southern Border are from  “Central America’s “Northern Triangle” — Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. For years, these countries have suffered from gang violence, government corruption, extortion, and some of the highest rates of poverty and violent crime in the world. The pandemic-related economic downturn and a pair of hurricanes late last year that devastated Honduras and Guatemala, in particular, have only exacerbated those longstanding problems. Many of the migrants arriving on the southern border, sometimes in large caravans, likely felt they had no choice but to seek refuge elsewhere — as is their right under US and international law.”


Reproductive Abuse is Rampant in the Immigration Detention System by Brigitte Amiri via ALCU

***a government-contracted doctor repeatedly performed sterilizing procedures on women in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody without their knowledge or consent.

 

In 2017, groups working with young immigrants discovered that the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which has custody over immigrants under age 18 who come to the country without parents, had instituted a policy of blocking pregnant young people from accessing abortion care and trying to coerce them to carry pregnancies to term against their will.
Numerous pregnant women detained by Border Patrol recounted being told by officers to get abortions, all while being held in crowded, unsanitary facilities with little access to food or water.

 

During the first two years of the Trump administration, the number of undocumented women who miscarried while in government detention nearly doubled.

 
More immigrant women say they were abused by Ice gynecologist by Victoria Bekiempis via The Guardian

***“Petitioners were victims of non-consensual, medically unindicated and/or invasive gynecological procedures, including unnecessary surgical procedures under general anesthesia, performed by and/or at the direction of [gynaecologist Dr Mahendra Amin],” the petition said. “In many instances, the medically unindicated gynecological procedures Respondent Amin performed on Pe

ANNOUNCEMENT! We will be podcasting LIVE at the IDIC Podcast Festival hosted by Women at Warp on July 17th at 3:30pm PT // 6:30pm ET. You can watch us streaming on Women at Warp’s Facebook and YouTube pages (and we'll share the recording in our feed afterwards).

We're back, with a baby this time! Congratulations and mazel tov to Ryan and her new baby 🤩 Hence, we're doing a deep dive into Trek's portrayal of pregnancy, childbirth and child rearing, through the decades. 
Episodes: DS9 "The Begotten" (S5E12), VOY "Lineage" (S7E12), TNG "The Child" (S2E1), TNG "Disaster" (S5E5)
Honorable Mentions: DS9 "Business as Usual (S5E18), TOS "Friday's Child" (S2E3), DS9 "...Nor the Battle to the Strong" (S5E4)
Traumatic Birth
Women’s descriptions of childbirth trauma relating to care provider actions and interactions by Rachel Reed, Rachael Sharman & Christian Inglis via BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 
Moms Are Speaking Up About The Trauma Of Childbirth by Ellen O'Connell Whittet via BuzzFeed News 
The Messed-up History of Midwifery and Giving Birth Lying Down
Doulas 101: What Is a Doula? by Dina Roth Port via Parents  
History of Midwifery by Judith P. Rooks, CNM, MPH, MS via Our Bodies Our Selves  
The Witch Trials of Midwives by Kabir via Medium  
Why do women give birth lying on their backs? by Debra Waters via Good to Know  
Give Parents Paid Leave Already FUUUUUUUUUCK!!!  
Among 41 countries, only U.S. lacks paid parental leave by Gretchen Livingstong and Deja Thomas via Pew Research Center  
Countries Around The World Beat The U.S. On Paid Parental Leave by Jessica Deahl via NPR 
Paid Family Leave, on the Rise, Helps Women Stay in the Workforce by Stephen Miller, CEBS via SHRM
How Children Benefit from Paid Family Leave Policies by Tara O'Neill Hayes, Margaret Barnhorst via American Action Forum 
One chart shows why more companies should invest in paid parental leave by Marguerite Ward via Business Insider 
Men Should Take Parental Leave - Here's Why by Shelley Zalis via Forbes
And Also, Let Parents Bring Their Kids to Work Occasionally
Historic Senate Rules Change Allows New Parents to Bring Their Children to the Senate Floor for First Time by Press Release from Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Senator for Illinois via duckworth.senate.gov 
Cultural Differences around Sleep Training, Carrying Newborns, etc.
Cultural Differences in Baby and Toddler Sleep by Emily DeJeu via The Baby Sleep Site  
'In Africa we carry our children so they feel loved' by Emily Wax via The Guardian   
Is it right to train babies to sleep? by Lucy Wallis and Rajeev Gupta via BBC News
Is the Western way of raising kids weird? by Kelly Oakes via BBC Future 
6 parenting styles from other countries we can all learn from by Kate Ward via care.com  
Stress Makes Labor Take Longer, Perhaps
Some Animals Can Literally Pause Their Pregnancies. Here's Why by Jane Fenelon via ScienceAlert   
Fear of Childbirth Prolongs Labor by Elena Perez via Hormones Matter  
Prolonged Labor: Failure To Progress via American Pregnancy Association
Let Pregnant People Eat in Peace  
I’m Pregnant, But I’m Not Incapable, So Quit Telling Me What To Do by Sarah Cottrell via Scary Mommy
What to Say to People With Opinions About Your Pregnancy by Sherri Gordon via verywellfamily 
Research on Medicines and Pregnancy via CDC 
The moral imperative to approve pregnant women’s participation in randomized clinical trials for pregnancy and newborn complications by Dan Kabonge Kaye via Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine 
Long overlooked by science, pregnancy is finally getting attention it deserves by Carolyn Y. Johnson via The Washington Post  
 
P.S. No, abortions are NOT reversible 
Facts are Important: Medication Abortion "Reversal" Is Not Supported by Science via The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
 

**************SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS*********************
Welcome to 3188! Discovery Season 3 is a wild ride and we are HERE. FOR. IT. This ...month? Becca and Ryan discuss the beautiful emotional journey of Michael Burnham, with stops along the way to talk Tilly, thirst for Book, send our love to the baby enbys, and salute Georgiou. There are spoilers in this! Oh, and P.S. get your vaccine as soon as you're eligible.     

What we're into right now:  
The Hold Up: friend-of-the-pod Molly Sanchez and co-host Sam DiSalvo revisit pop culture from our youth and ask the very important question, "does it hold up?" (podcast)  
WandaVision: MCU's answer to classic sitcoms, with sci-fi shenanigans! Who could ask for more? (TV show)  
The Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal: Travel to alternate-history 1952 and follow Dr. Elma York as she battles sexism in order to go to space. (book series)  
Wage Stagnation is a shit deal   
For most U.S. workers, real wages have barely budged in decades by Drew Desilver via Pew Research Center  
State of Working America Wages 2019 by Elise Gould via Economic Policy Institute  
Who has to wait to be Captain?  
Star Trek: Why Burnham (& Sisko) Took 3 Seasons To Become Captain by John Orquiola  
Emotions are Integral  
Why emotional intelligence is important in leadership by Lauren Landry via Harvard Business School  
People Who Cry Often Are Not Weak, But Mentally Stronger by Madeline Neufeld via Lifehack  
How Stigmatizing Male Emotional Vulnerability Has Created a Crisis for Us All by Kali Holloway via the body is not an apology  
Can Clinton's Emotions Get the Best of Her? by Emily Friedman via ABC News  
Oh, to be Trill and Trans/Non-binary ♥  
A History of Star Trek's Gender Non-Conformity by Marlowe Mitchell via startrek.com  
Star Trek: Discovery set to introduce its first non-binary and trans characters by Matt Moore via Gay Times  
How Transgender Star Trek Fans Came to View Jadzia Dax as Their Own by Lauren Coates via The Mary Sue  
 
 

Happy New Year, Intertrekkies, and welcome to Risa! All that is ours is yours. Today's topic: SEX WORK. Strap in for a deep dive into this important topic.  Also, 2nd wave feminism, Picard's package, costume obsessions, and more!

Episodes:  The Next Generation "Captain's Holiday" (S3E19) DS9 "Let He Who Is Without Sin..." (S5E7) Enterprise "Two Days and Two Nights" (S1E25)  
Recommendations!  
Future Man (TV show): comedy sci-fi/time travel show starring Seth Rogan.  
Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV show): mystical musical dramedy set in SF's tech world.  
Sex Work is Work  
“Hustlers” Explodes the Damaging Stereotype of Sex Workers as Thieves by Aya de Leon via Bitch Media  
6 Sex Workers Explain How Sharing Client Lists Saves Lives by Kitty Stryker via Vice  
“When They’re Dead, They’re Hookers” — The Media Trope that is Literally Killing People by Riley Smith via Medium  

Between 17 and 34% of workers have reported being harassed, threatened, or assaulted by police in the United States.  

We need to talk about Anna Kendrick's dead 'hooker' joke by Molly Fitzpatrick via Splinter  

Studies have shown that female sex workers, frequent victims of sexual assault and physical violence, are 18 times more likely to be murdered than other women of their age and race.  

Stigma and stereotypes about sex work hinder regulatory reform by Paul J. Maginn and Emily Cooper via The Conversation  
Unpacking Harmful Myths Around Sex Work via the Equality Institute  
Common Myths About Sex Work, Debunked By Sex Workers by Frankie Miren via Vice 
#119 No More Safe Harbor episode of Reply All (April 20, 2018)  
Malcolm Reed, Closet Case? 
Lt. Malcom Reed: Intergalactic Man of Confusion by Michelle Zamanian via Women at Warp
Malcolm Reed via Memory Alpha
What to wear on Space Hawaii 
Costumes of Risa  
This picture of Picard