Star Trek Retrospective: Episode 21 Return of the Archons
This is an episode that is fun yet at the same time problematic. BTW if you ever wanted to get into Star Trek cosplay the Lawgivers uniform is basically a brown robe and a metal tube. Super easy. So this one was kind of cool in concept but when you think about it the Festival is pretty much just an excuse to commit rape. Not exactly forward thinking as far as women’s liberation is concerned. There were many episodes with strong misogynistic tendencies and I think this one (along with Spocks Brain and Turnabout Intruder) was one of the worst.
However I like to think they tried and TNG made up for a lot of prior poor gender decisions. However my problem with this episode is the fact that they fell back once again on the old “talk a computer into killing itself” trope. That one is used almost as much as having red shirts die. This was the second episode to us it and after a while it just got lazy. In order to prove what a hard core Trek fan I am I will list all the episodes that use this cliche off the top of my head: What are Little Girls Made Of, I Mudd, the Ultimate Computer, and The Changeling. Seems like standard SOP is when faced with any kind of artificial intelligence just have Kirk argue with it for 5 minutes and run away from the self destruct. 
He’s like Deedee from Dexters Lab’s father (not impossible knowing him. Image courtesy of the cartoon t shirt collection).
Nevertheless fun episode with some half baked social commentary messages.
the Infamous Dave Inman
A Guide to Nerd Guys Meeting and Dating Women: How to start talking to them Part 2
Ok. Let’s talk about how to actually start a conversation with a woman who is a complete stranger in hopes of making her not a stranger without creeping her out. The intimidation factor puts guys into a weird head space and more or less forces them to adopt some bad habits.
The number one thing to watch out for is not being intimidating. The main thing guys can do to intimidated someone is to violate their personal space, which creeps everyone out, but especially women. In a perfect world you all would understand the concept of personal space but I have known enough nerds to realize I can’t make that assumption, so I will drop a couple guidelines on you. Basically, there are three different “zones” of personal space. The first is the space used by intimate couples. This zone is where they are more or less touching each other and could be wearing each others clothes. The second zone is the zone used by friends. This is approximately one full arms length away from each other. The third zone is what is considered appropriate for strangers and business associates to deal with. This is a double arms length away. In other words, if you and the person you are talking to were to put out your arms at the same time you could just touch fingers. THIS IS YOUR ZONE! I can’t stress this enough. When talking to a stranger you need to stay at this distance.
Now granted, if you are sitting next to someone on the bus or something you are already violating the zone, but this is OK as long as you don’t have the option of being at the appropriate distance.
Other creepy body language includes talking to someone shoulder first. In other words, leading sideways with one shoulder towards who you are talking about it a very aggressive attitude and extremely off putting. It is a combat position (if you don’t believe me check out Popeye’s body language (shirt from the cartoon t shirt section)) and you should always face directly at whomever you are talking to, man or woman.
Finally, and this is another point I really have to press, never stand or move between a woman you are talking to and the only exit of the room. Women tend to be pretty skittish when talking to a new guy and will feel really freaked out if they don’t know they can get out readily. I have seen guys actually move to block women and it is not only going to make sure she never wants to talk to you again but will also more or less ruin the day or evening for her, which is really an unfair disservice. It is not OK under any circumstance.
So try to not be creepy. More later.
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