We love classic Trek, because, there, Kirk is not a womanizer.
and in context this is even BETTER because kirk is pretty much explaining consent and how if she’s not interested then you gotta back off and
UGH IT’S NOT THAT HARD
YES BECAUSE CAPTAIN KIRK UNDERSTANDS THAT LOVING WOMEN & ENJOYING SEXY TIMES =/= TREATING THEM LIKE OBJECTS TO BE OWNED.
what I love about classic jim kirk that I don’t think JJ understands is that he enjoys having sex a lot but not just for himself. this is a man that literally gets his shits and giggles by sexually pleasing pretty much everyone he comes into contact with. I’m also like 90% sure TOS kirk wouldn’t forget anyone he slept with, this is the kinda guy that treasures every shag in his hearrrrttttt
luv u kirk
Kirk is a dude that falls in love hard and honestly wants the other party to be happy. And in many cases, he’s not getting his flirt on for the fun of it, he’s trying to save his crew. Also, the episode with the rapid aging disease? His interactions with his old flame pretty much spell it all out.
It’s also pretty interesting that all Trek novels with the TOS cast that I’ve read so far (and that’s a lot) write Kirk as a romantic rather than as a womanizer. Baring in mind Trek novels are generally written by hardcore fans, I think it’s a good indicator of how many fans saw Kirk not as a womanizer, but as a man who enjoys pleasing women and feels it deeply when he hurts them.
That character Charlie that he’s talking to in the gifs – so gross. Perfect example of a creeper.
I’ve been really disappointed with how they’ve flattened Kirk’s relationships with women in the movies not only because Sexism, but also because I find Kirk’s relationships with women in TOS fascinating.
I mean, someone in his position has really, really sparse options for long-term relationships, and that is not a small sacrifice. Can you imagine the pressure he’s under, in charge of a starship thousands of light years from any species he can even communicate with? Who the hell wouldn’t want a bit of intimacy and emotional support in a situation like that? But Kirk’s got a strict policy (in opposition to what we’ve seen in the movies so far) of not pursuing relationships with his subordinates, which eliminates pretty much everybody.
He also falls legitimately in love at least three times in the series, is forced to leave the woman behind every single time. Can you imagine how much that must suck to do it even once?
But what really gets me is how often Kirk gets mind-controlled into sexual/romantic encounters—but he gets called a womanizer, and no one (except Spock, whom I’m pretty sure is keeping score) ever bothers counting up how many times he’s basically, you know, raped.
So yeah, TOS!Kirk’s relationship with relationships is complicated, and he pays a pretty stiff price both for having them and for not having them. It’s really a shame to see a thoughtful treatment of that tension boiled down to ‘skirt-chaser.’
(Though there is the very interesting potential to treat reboot!Kirk’s relationships with women—or lack thereof—as an artefact of his childhood and a behavioral pattern that maybe he needs to work on. So far we’re getting the ‘Oh ho ho, boys will be boys’ brush-off, but it’d be neat if that changes.)