Okay, so I can’t find much too much information on Roxanne Dawson, so I’m just going to write this here because why not.
If I could, I would personally thank Roxanne Dawson for her amazing portrayal of B'Elanna Torres in Star Trek Voyager. Her character I’ve decided is one of my inspirations for still pursuing science. She may be part Klingon, but to 13 year old me, her light brown skin and Hispanic-sounding last name made me certain that in some ways we were very similar. She was prone to outbursts due to her Klingon heritage, but they were really inspired by her anger at what could sometimes be an oppressive system. She was angry, a lot, and it was not just inherent anger (a stereotype that many Hispanic and women of color experience) but because of the treatment she and other oppressed people had to deal with. She grew up an outcast because she wasn’t just straight human but she wasn’t Klingon either. But despite all of this, she stepped up to the plate when it came time to be Chief Engineer and let her passion for science overcome her fear of not being accepted as a leader. And she was a woman.
Voyager had several potential female role models who were all strong characters. Janeway was captain, and stern but also full of compassion for her crew. Kes was caring, positive and sweet. She displays lots of personal growth throughout her part on the series. And Seven of Nine, while her character was certainly debated, had her own awesome characteristics.
But B'Elanna wasn’t golden haired and white skinned. She was a woman of color who tackled issues of science and personal issues the best she could, and her best showed others what she and other women outsiders could do. And she showed me what I could do. I consistently note to people in my life that due to the fact that my parents had a higher financial status than many Hispanics and people of color, plus significant amounts of higher education, I was raised to believe I could succeed, despite the lack of Hispanic female role models that exist in the public eye. My parents made sure that I did know about them and even if I didn’t, that I could be the first. There are a lot of privileges here, but even so, it was difficult to think I would be able to pursue science. B'Elanna Torres was my role model that I could.
Geography isn’t always considered a science, but it is, and B'Elanna Torres is one of the reasons I kept thinking I could get into a science, if I found the right one.
