One work which discusses challenges in identity is an episode from Start Trek: The Next Generation called “The Outcast”. In this episode, the crew of the Enterprise is working with a species that is androgynous – they do not have gender and find the idea of gender among their species to be unacceptable. One individual, Soren, reveals to Commander Riker that she feels female and wants to be female, but is too afraid to speak up for fear that her society will make her an outcast. She describes how many people on her world identify as male or female but upon speaking out, they are seen as “ill” and are taken in for “treatment” after which they no longer identify as a gender and find the notion to be offensive.
This story is a wonderful example of an identity struggle in which Soren feels deep down that she is female, she knows that she is female, but she lives in a world that would rather violate its own laws of bodily autonomy by operating on her without her permission than let her be herself. Soren feels lost and alone, like she does not fit in anywhere – she cannot relate to her own people who identify as androgynous, but she cannot relate to the humans who fully identify as male and female. In a way, her situation of feeling lost between two peoples is similar to Deming’s in The Leavers, who both identifies and does not identify with his Chinese friends/family and American friends/family. Both Deming and Soren feel not quite enough of either side to identify with them, which leaves them lost in the middle. Soren’s story also depicts a One vs Other relationship in which her government and society, who believe in androgyny, set themselves up as the One and therefore “Other” those like Soren who identify as a gender. Essentially, Soren is seen and treated as less-than and potentially mentally ill for wanting to express herself in a way that aligns with a gender.
Obviously, this situation is a direct parallel of our society in which we experience the opposite situation – people who are born one gender or the other do not identify as that gender. They are mistreated and “Othered” by a society that historically has forced “treatment” on them and altogether outcast them simply for wanting to express themselves differently. This show inspires conversation around identity by forcing us to compare our society to another that faces the same fundamental challenges. I believe the creators of this show want their audience to consider the following: Is Soren doing anything wrong simply by wanting to live her life as a female? Is it reasonable for Soren’s government to outcast her and force a procedure on her that will fundamentally change her as a person? How does Soren’s dilemma compare to those in our society? Is it therefore wrong for men/women in our society to want to live their lives differently?