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Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
 
Once again Bernd & J�rg have added in-depth technical analysis to the Ex Astris Scientia pages.

So, let's vote...

1) Do you think the darker color of Cardassian female "spoons" is sexual dimorphism or the Cardassian equivalent to lipstick?

2) Do you find Rutian hair color to be sexual dimorphism or totalitarian fashion?

3) Are uniform heels an indicator of sexual dimorphism in the ankle structure of our heroes and heroines? (If so, did Kira undergo a sex change operation for the latter seasons?)

Timo Saloniemi
 

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Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
 
I always thought that the Female Cardassian spoon was makeup... but it's true all of them have it (what little we have seen) and maybe it didn't come through with Ziyal.

Kira's uniform changed a bit over the seasons. Maybe Bajoran military fashion became a bit more variable after a few years of regularity and a bit more variety was brought in. As compared to just after the occupation.
 

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Posted by Shakaar (Member # 1782) on :
 
1) I have pondered that the spoon is mostly makeup, given it seems the darker the lipstick, the darker the spoon color. It could be a little of both however... Lips are more red/pink than the surrounding skin, and women invariably color them with a darker red... I ponder the spoon is more like the cheeks they can be only slightly different from the surrounding skin some people blush and they turn slightly red- usually they are an even flesh tone with the rest of the skin, it's something men and women do... but it's something women will use makeup to create as well.

2) The Rutians- I think we need to see more of their species before we can make such a determination: http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Rutians has a number of images, and shows that women also have the "skunk" markings in their hair as well.

3) Kira- in polls of her from the first season people felt she was too harsh, too mean, so the producers began a process of changing her character to become more friendly- and they did this both physically and emotionally.
 

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Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
 
You know what - at the risk of creating a new thread/argument - I would put forward that Kira is probably the best character in the history of Trek! That is just my opinion though!

The Rutians all look like they have absorbed some of Magneto's powers.
 

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Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
 
While we're delving into this weird corner, I would like to see a Cardassian skull, is what I'd like, because how much of their head is bone and how much is cartilage? (Or their freakish alien equivalents. I guess they could have sacks filled with organic concrete or something.)

((Also, I am of two minds here. On the one hand, Star Trek biology is so. . . well, let's say not rigorously extrapolated; anyway, so much so that there's really nothing to look at. You might as well say a wizard did it. On the other, how awesome was that one moment in Enterprise where we got to see inside T'Pol's chest cavity (((yes, yes, amuse yourselves))) and it was all different and weird looking? So I don't know what I want. Beyond more skulls.))
 

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Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
 
We all want more skulls.
The lasting fashions of Pol Pot will dominate popular culture for many generations to come.

I think the coloration is a makeup thing only, and possibly not in vogue on all Casdassian worlds, or possibly Zial was not old enough for such makeup in their society.

It could also indicate marital status for adults.

Seeing a radically difffrent internal structure in T'Pol is very cool, but it only underscores how unlikely viable crossbred offspring would be.
Even simple health concerns would be complicated and doctors would be giuessing at what goes with which species.
Spock would have been a scientific curiosity on Vulcan....even moreso with K'lear (sp?) being Klingon/Human mix.


The Rutian hair color thing could be a regional quirk, some aincent caste designation or even a clan/family indicator, or after-effects of some bioweapon for all we'll ever know.
Too little is know to do more than wildly speculate.
 

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Posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim (Member # 646) on :
 
I remember pondering this myself when re-watching all the shows last year, and I came to the conclusion that it was not makeup. For some strange reason I can't remember what led me to that, though. Perhaps one reason was that Seska, the undercover Cardassian spy lost in the Delta Quadrant and struggling to hold an uneasy alliance with the Kazon, seems like the last person who would put on makeup every morning. Additionally, Ziyal is the ONLY female we haven't seen with the exact same pattern, and she was not a full-blooded Cardassian.

-MMoM
 

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Posted by johnny otter (Member # 1841) on :
 
Speaking of skulls, the Zaranite sexes also seem to have differently shaped heads (unless of course, the ones from TMP were wearing some kind of bulbous hat).
http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Zaranite
 

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Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
 

quote:

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Perhaps one reason was that Seska, the undercover Cardassian spy lost in the Delta Quadrant and struggling to hold an uneasy alliance with the Kazon, seems like the last person who would put on makeup every morning.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Timo:
Yet she found the time and patience for lipstick...

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quote:

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Originally posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim:
Additionally, Ziyal is the ONLY female we haven't seen with the exact same pattern, and she was not a full-blooded Cardassian.

-MMoM

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