Rankled by Rank (Or, the Lack Thereof)

Ah, the lovely Zoe Saldana, who's playing "Uhura" in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie, which is coming out in May. If you haven't seen the trailers yet, then click on Dark Horizons and check 'em out. The film looks amazing in terms of acting and visual effects.

I like the look of the TOS-esque Starfleet uniforms (especially the whole two-piece tunic thing), but in Uhura's case, she's practically sleeveless — thus, she has no rank stripes showing, which I think is just ... wrong. All the men (except for ensigns, like Chekov) get to show off their rank stripes, but Lieutenant Uhura ... she gets nothing. In fact, none of the Starfleet women seem to.

J.J., man, what's up with that? Seems kinda sexist to me. I'm hoping that's one TOS element you haven't included in your movie. How would a Starfleet stranger know how to address Uhura? How would any Starfleet woman know how to address another? If I'm "Lieutenant Commander Suzie Hope" and I pass Uhura in the corridor, how would I know whether to call her "sir/ma'am" or "Hey, you, I need some help, get your butt over here?"

There's plenty of room on the women's uniform collars to indicate rank, J.J. Use the square, silver pips left over from Star Trek: Enterprise and give Uhura one the next time 'round, OK? She's the First Lady of Star Trek and deserves the respect accorded to her as a Starfleet lieutenant.