The Trekual Allure of Mr. Spock

My husband does not believe me about Mr. Spock. He simply doesn’t believe that, to some female Sci Fi fans, Spock is sexy. Over the weekend, we argued about this very topic because he cannot fathom that women find Spock to be an object of desire. To him, it is beyond comprehension that girl geeks would be attracted to an emotionally unavailable (though not all the time as many a Trek fans knows, but more about that later) and coldly logical man.  For Ethan it is inconceivable that women would ever sidle up to this statistic-spouting, pointy-eared, first officer from Star Trek. I accepted his unspoken challenge to address this very issue because I know him to be very, very wrong.

First off, in Spock’s sexual allure favor is his extreme intelligence. If Moffat’s Sherlock has recently taught us anything, it is that the smart but socially awkward Molly Hoopers of the world love themselves a freakishly genius man. Since sex begins in the mind for women, and especially does for geek girls, a man with an impressive and highly cultivated intellect is extremely erotic.  Spock will suss a situation faster than anyone in the room (because he is a bit like a Vulcan Sherlock Holmes that way), and can quite possibly work out all manner of scenarios for solutions to any problems you may encounter. He’s handy to have around. Sure, he lacks Kirk’s dashing bravado and his sheer chutzpah for attempting feats of simple bravado when in a pickle, but he has a cunning and calculating manner that is not always typical of a Vulcan and thus makes him a different brand of daring in adventures. Frankly, the completely ignorant racial issues that a Vulcan-human mixed child might raise, aside, he’s good breeding stock. Sometimes that is enough to get women into a Spock-obsessed lather.

Secondly, let’s not forget that Spock, in The Original Series of Star Trek and frankly much of what came after, is quite fit. He’s lanky and lean, while Kirk sports the beginnings of what later became quite the pot.  Sure, Spock doesn’t have the broad-shouldered, pec-riddled  look of  TOS Kirk or the guns, but he is lithe and slinky like the cat that he is. Not unlike Kirk, this is a man who always lands on his feet. Even when he dies, death has no dominion over him; he simply bounces back. He is the original death-defying companion before there was ever a Rory Williams or a Clara Oswald. Kill him if you like, but he’s twenty paces ahead of you with an escape plan. Before I leave this physical assessment of Mr.Spock, I must not forget the eyebrows or the ears as they are oddly erotic in their own elfin way. They are almost delightfully devilish, and women do love themselves a bad boy, at least while they’re young.

Which brings me to my last and main point as to why female Trekkies and Trekkers love Spock. He is a withholding bastard. Yes, women sometimes love that. Though we know better, we fall for this act quite often.  Why?  Maybe it’s the side effect of a bad childhood; maybe he reminds of us of a reserved and emotionally conservative father or a cold, detached mother. His demeanor is familiar to us. Or maybe it is simply because women just love a project. Female fans know from watching Star Trek, the series and the movies, that Spock’s Vulcan veneer sometimes cracks. He is half human after all and cannot always maintain his steely persona. He has wept for his mother. He has loved a human woman. He has gone through Pon Farr, and in his sped up Genesis second life, he did so with Saavik, a nerd girl in her own right. Seriously, what did you people think they were doing?  So female fans fantasize that they can bring out these loving moments from the sexy nerd, Spock. They write fan fics where they Mary Sue themselves into a character who eventually worms her way into applying a sexy balm to Spock’s tortured emotional wounds. They long to be the one to elicit a simple whimsical raise of his eyebrow at something they have said, which would be enough to send them into fits of ecstasy and delight and keep them riding high for weeks. And when they go to see JJ. Abrams’ version of Star Trek, they will “squee” all over themselves upon seeing their usually so reserved Spock mack on Uhura, after all these years.

Don’t underestimate them though, they will imagine setting a phaser to stun, dispatching Uhura, and taking over where she left off.  Eventually these female fans may settle down with a real live boy, but if you look at him closely, you will see he is much like Spock. He often has trouble showing his emotions, he is usually extremely smart, and he will be the type to think up a solution for her problems every time, if the geek girl doesn’t save herself first.