Yes, “Profit and Lace” sucked, but that’s not their objection; the way they went on about it you’d think it was The Birth of a Nation or something. Obviously gender-bendimg comedy in English goes back at least to Much Ado About Nothing (and the Canterbury Tales, if I had to guess) and of course to Greek drama before that.

Yeah, I hear you – I haven’t seen any Trek series since 2005, but really, “they” for Jadzia Dax does make sense since it’s two distinct organisms in one person. Jadzia is a woman, Curzon was a man, Dax is an it. If you can conceptualize the Trinity, you can conceptualize Dax – and if these fart smellers on Trek forums can’t – legitimately, not performatively atheist – how smart can they be? This cuts both ways, btw, to include fundies.

Re: pronouns – one reason neopronouns haven’t caught on, besides sounding silly and being plucked out of the ether, is that they’re generally utopian schemes intended to replace “he” and “she” in all instances, not just supplement. And of course if we let them get their noses under the tent, the more progressive “thinkers” among us will use them to their intended breadth and all of a sudden you’ll be a horrible bigot if you refuse. My thought has been to use the Old English neuter pronoun; the only drawback is that there’s some overlap with the masculine (though far less than in Latin or Greek), particularly the possessive “his”.

Star Trek ersatz philosophy is great when you’re 16, like Ayn Rand’ds Anthem, but it should be pretty embarrassing to take your cues from it when you’re in your 30s. If I want philosophy, I’ll read it – I always found “The Measure of a Man” kind of pop philosophy a bore. I watch Star Trek for the storytelling, the universe, and the somewhat outmoded stage-type acting. Fandom correlates with arrested development.