I identify with Janeway…I am a woman of authority, unique in the Star Trek annals. There has never been a woman who has had the title of executive producer besides myself. I have a staff that I work with and take responsibility for. The successful running of a TV series is, at least in part, up to me. There are many pressures and a lot of stress. So, I bring my personality to bear on this job. Naturally, it is those sensibilities that I tap into when I write Janeway.
Jeri Taylor, interviewed in “Now Voyager” by Ian Spelling, Starlog Magazine (February, 1995)
Taylor also talked about the challenges writing the first woman captain:
We acknowledge that we are walking a very dangerous sort of tightrope with a female captain. She is judged by different standards. If she shows any weakness, if she shows too much emotion in a situation of stress, it damages her in the eyes of the audience. So we have to be careful that in professional situations, in leadership situations on the bridge, at all times she is completely in control. But to do only that with her would be to do a great disservice to the character and to the actress, who is capable of a broad range of things. I think that we have given her more emotional stories this season [Season 2] and as a result, we have deepened her character.
Jeri Taylor, quoted in Captains’ Logs: Supplemental by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, 1996.
