Pondering Sarah Palin: Life Imitating Star Trek?

For those of you who aren't familiar with the penultimate Trek series "Star Trek: Voyager", let me give you some background information...

Voyager was the first ST series to feature a female captain. A Star Trek fan of several years, the captain's position always held appeal to me as the moral authority for a community of travelers on a mission. In the various series, the captain was always the go-to guy when the going got tough. He was the driving force behind the ship, lending stability, gravitas, and confidence to his crew through ethical conundrums and life-threatening situations. Each captain had his own distinctive personality, but all were unquestionably in command. At times the captain had his doubts about a mission, but he himself couldn't be doubted by his stalwart crew. To this young fan, Star Trek's captains had served as models of masculinity. Then along came Voyager and Captain Katherine Janeway.

I must admit, I had reservations about a woman in the captain's chair. How could a woman manage to be in command and in control, to fill the shoes of the fabled captains Kirk, Picard, and Sisko, and still be, well, womanly? I was afraid that the Janeway character would either not be convincing as the leader of a crew of several hundred people or else would be a mannish woman who was unpleasant to watch from week to week. In short, I was afraid she would be Hillary Clinton.

In early episodes I was a bit concerned, as the writers seemed to confirm my fears by writing the character as a bit wooden, a one-dimensional all-business career woman who wasn't particularly likeable, but as the character evolved and the actress Kate Mulgrew got more comfortable with the role, Captain Janeway let her hair down (literally and figuratively) and became a superb example of an accomplished woman who was every bit as effective as the other captains from previous Treks, and yet distinctively feminine. Captain Janeway became one of my favorite ST captains, right up there with Jean-Luc Picard and Benjamin Sisko. She brought her own personality to the role, just as the other captains had, but she didn't sacrifice her femininity. She was a woman and a captain. She became a mother figure to her crew, who found themselves in need of guidance, stranded on the other side of the galaxy, far from home and isolated from their own families. Captain Janeway was in command, but a nurturer as well. The crew respected her, looked up to her, and could not bear the thought of disappointing her. Just as other ST captains had been emblematic of masculine authority, Janeway developed into a model of the feminine authority figure.

Recently, when John McCain selected Sarah Palin as his choice for Vice President, I experienced a bit of the same reservations that I'd had about Katherine Janeway. I thought that perhaps her selection was more of a gimmick than anything. Then I heard her first speech the day that McCain announced her selection, and I thought, "Maybe she will prove to be better than I thought. I will give her the benefit of the doubt." Then I heard her speech at the Republican National Convention and became a bona fide Palin fan. Here is a woman that I could follow. She is smart, accomplished, persuasive, and comfortable in her own skin. She comes across as authentic, and authentically feminine.

Having read several profiles of her tenure in Alaska politics, she is described as "a mother and a governor". She never tried to build walls between her family and her career. They were simply two aspects of her full life. Her kids and/or husband were often seen around the Alaska Statehouse; she even was known to nurse her baby unseen during conference calls. She would be parenting one minute, then would excuse herself saying, "Mommy's got to go do this press conference." She stands in stark contrast to Hillary Clinton, who entered the national spotlight on her husband's coattails, while Palin has come up through the political ranks from the PTA to the City Commission, Mayor, Governor, and now VP candidate, on her own merits. She seems to be anchored by her values and convictions as opposed to being driven by blind ambition. She provides a real-life example of a powerful woman who has not tried to prove herself to be as tough as any man, but has simply been who she is, which happens to be one tough lady. Tough as she may be, one of my favorite things about her is that she still has the softer, maternal side as well. Her words at the convention about her youngest child were inspiring and heart-felt.

I believe that John McCain exhibited a stroke of genius in choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. Beyond the political aspect of the choice (she has certainly shaken up the race, and I believe has significantly improved the Republican ticket's chances of winning come November), I truly believe that she would be a refreshing voice in Washington, DC.

Did the character of Captain Janeway help prepare me to accept a woman candidate for high office? Maybe so. I just may have found my real-life Captain Janeway in Sarah Palin. Win or lose this year, Palin's candidacy will no doubt go down in the history books. Perhaps a young Katherine Janeway, some 200 years hence, will read in those history books and be inspired to a life of leadership by a certain 21st-century female leader. :-)

McCain-Palin 2008!
Palin 2016?

It could happen!