Uhura Appreciation Post

Uhura’s response, “sorry, neither,” is to the other meanings of those words. She is saying that she is neither fair—“pale-skinned”—nor a maiden—a “virgin.”

“Fair” in the context of this phrase is meant to convey “beautiful” but literally meant “light or pale skinned.”

“Maiden” is meant to convey “young woman,” but literally meant “virgin” (as in “maiden voyage”).

Well you've gotten your answer but I do gotta say I love this place. Within 5 minutes you had 3 answers.

Trekkies love showing off our knowledge of various things. Soon you will be one of us buddy <3

Benign today, sure. 56 years ago? Not that benign.

It seems odd to me too. Even if it was 60 years ago. "Fair", she's dark skinned, so not "fair" in that sense. And he's using "maiden" in the sense of "a girl or young woman", which she also isn't. Yes, you could also see a secondary meaning of "maiden" as in "virgin", but would the censors really block something that was only mildly sexual and only when taken out of context? Was "maiden" in the 60s seen as a much more sexual term or something?

“Maiden” used to imply virginity and “fair” implies light, usually white, skin. Doesn’t take a leap to figure out why censors in the 60s would have found it objectionable to call attention to that.