Actually, the Tarantino reference in the title was probably a bad sign too*

[cimorene]

I know I'm probably preaching to the choir in this corner of fandom, where information about the history of female Star Trek fans (and creators, and letter-writers who saved the show from cancellation) regularly comes back around again, but like... running into the 'Star Trek is for Boys!' people out there in the rest of the internet still happens regularly, so I'm still suspicious of stuff like

Now, if you’re a Trek fan and you haven’t listened to Inglorious Treksperts, I can’t recommend it more highly. Mark and Daren’s expertise on not just Trek, but genre media, and the entertainment industry as a whole is unmatched. And the podcast is damned entertaining.

(I saw this via a link from my Network this morning and I didn't save the page because this was a digression from the point of the article in question.)

Like, this article was fine and the guy who wrote it seems okay and his friends here aren't especially likely to be part of team No Girls Allowed and could easily have female guests on their podcast all the time (even though they didn't in the episode he was mentioning), buuuuuuuuuut... I feel like I ran out of patience for giving all-male panels and all-male media the benefit of the doubt somewhere in my early 20s.

*And I say this is as someone who enjoyed quite a few Tarantino movies before reading Uma Thurman's Me Too comments and covering up his name on our framed Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction posters

Comments

[oanja]

This might not be helpful as I'm about to rec a star trek podcast by to dudes, but 'the greatest generation' is good. They point out sexist things in episodes including weird camera angles and costumes for example. I think they are both somehow involved in film/tv production as their jobs, so I also find I learn stuff about how tv shows are made. (they have done the whole next gen and are now doing DS9). But I totally get it if you don't want to give it a go.

Do you happen to have recs for star trek podcasts with women hosts?

[cimorene]

No, well... the thing is...

I was thinking about disclaiming this in the entry, but: it was more that it reminded me of the wider issue of gender distribution of panels and groups of all kinds, rather than a specific interest in podcasts.

I probably wouldn't have checked this one out even if it was mixed gender - I don't follow any podcasts right now because I find it uncomfortable listening to things that aren't music. I used to listen to a couple some years ago, but I got bored of them or they switched to hosts I didn't like.

ETA: Although if they had linked to an all-female one or a female-containing one that had another twist that brought it closer to my interests than just Star Trek - like a fanfic angle or a science fiction history or film critique angle or... idk, something... then I probably would have been curious enough to try it anyway.

[phosfate]

Paramount, in the last 20 years, has done everything in its power to re-label Trek a boy thing.

[cimorene]

Well, yeah. True. But fuck them.

[phosfate]

They literally don't want my icky girl money. I can find toys of the cast of Big Bang in Trek costumes more easily than I can find Trek toys.

[cimorene]

That's interesting, I had no idea it was that bad! I haven't bought a Trek action figure since I was a teenager, but I remember I had some of those posable mini figures that look like giant Lego people of Kirk and Spock. I would've assumed there'd be toys from the new movies like for other action franchises (though I hear the last one didn't perform well, so maybe they'd have faded out by now anyway).

So are Funko Pops like the only Star Trek merch out there now??

[phosfate]

The Pops are mostly gone. The BB toys run about $30 each and their fabric bleeds like crazy, so buying them to customize is risky and expensive. Happily 2018 brought the return of Mego continuing their 70s line. They're cheap and still have that fab 70s aesthetic, but a bitch to find.

[cimorene]

I love the customized toys you post. It reminds me of what I did to my toys as a child, but I lacked the vision to take it that far.

When I was about... 7 or so, Mattel changed Barbie designs to make it harder for the heads to come off by accident, but before that it happened all the time. As a practical child, I started taking them off to make it easier to switch their clothes out, which obviously progressed to swapping their heads around amongst the different Barbies, but for the most part I just put them back afterwards.

Then when I was older I moved on to drawing jewelry and shoes on Barbies and action figures with Sharpies and eventually painting action figures with tempera paint (which had the advantage that you could wash it off and redo it, although I later discovered to my chagrin that if left on for too long it would stain the underlying plastic).

I look forward to seeing what you (and other people) do with the new Megos now.

[phosfate]

I need to find my old customs and re-photograph them, since Geocities and AOL ate all my photos.

I have all the stuff to make the Megos a playset (tentatively christened For Asshole), but haven't done much actual construction yet. There's a helicopter pad. I do not own a Mego-compatible helicopter. XD Also, for some reason, a half-dozen in-scale shopping carts and a couple of dumpsters.

[cimorene]

Mego Scotty could probably make a helicopter out of those.

[phosfate]

He better not. I spent a week aging and staining the dumpsters.They're totally disgusting and I am proud.

[cimorene]

Fair. Okay, maybe they have a shuttlecraft with a cloaking device.

[phosfate]

Somebody makes a Mego-scale Galileo shuttle that is super gorgeous. He puts one up on ebay every month or so.

[cimorene]

That is adorable.

[phosfate]

ALSO www.megomuseum.com has a ton of customs, both on the message boards and the 'Customego' section.