Spock's parents/Vulcan-human relations

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

Since Spock's mother is a human, how is a romantic/sexual relationship with a Vulcan possible, given that one is emotional and the other suppresses their emotions? And correct me if I'm wrong but aren't Vulcans physical with eachother through mind melds? Or can they be intimate like humans? Very confused.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Vulcans still have emotions. They don't express them in their day-to-day lives, but in the privacy of the bedroom...I'm sure they can be as romantic as anyone.

In ST09, Sarek admitted he married Amanda because he loved her. Vulcans can still feel love. They just do it in private.

As for mind melds? Those are not a replacement for romantic feelings, or sex, or anything like that. Vulcans can do all of those things.

 

[Melakon]

In "Journey to Babel", Sarek said he married Amanda because "At the time, it seemed the logical thing to do." I remember reading speculation in fan magazines that perhaps this meant she was already pregnant.

And the physical act of sex doesn't require an emotional reaction like romance or love.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

In "Journey to Babel", Sarek said he married Amanda because "At the time, it seemed the logical thing to do."

He did have a bit of a smirk when he said that. I took that to mean that Sarek was, in the Vulcan way, having a bit of a joke. All that was missing was the wink.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

I see. Good to know.

 

[Timewalker]

In "Journey to Babel", Sarek said he married Amanda because "At the time, it seemed the logical thing to do."

He did have a bit of a smirk when he said that. I took that to mean that Sarek was, in the Vulcan way, having a bit of a joke. All that was missing was the wink.

I took that as Sarek's way of saying it was logical to marry the woman you love, but of course no well-mannered Vulcan would actually speak the word out loud.

 

[Mudd]

I took it to be Sarek's way of avoiding saying to his son, "Because she could ____ the ____ __ a ____________."

 

[Sindatur]

In "Journey to Babel", Sarek said he married Amanda because "At the time, it seemed the logical thing to do."

He did have a bit of a smirk when he said that. I took that to mean that Sarek was, in the Vulcan way, having a bit of a joke. All that was missing was the wink.

You think Sarek was indicating he was "in The Vulcan Way"

 

[Timo]

We never really learn what sort of stigma is attached to the fact that Sarek married an alien or that Spock is a half-breed. The childhood scenes of "Yesteryear" and ST09 suggest Spock's fellow kids didn't appreciate either aspect, but kids are monsters anyway, and you can't tell with Vulcan adults whether the situation improves with age. Tellingly, the issue never quite arises in the dialogue of "Amok Time", or in ST3:TSfS, or in "Sarek", all of which involve other Vulcans dealing with the fallout of Sarek's decision.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Jedi_Master]

Spock's parentage was convenient for story-telling purposes. He could do "alien" things and even have a slightly different appearance, but yet he still could look human enough and have the option of acting human if the need arose.

 

[Malaika]

Since Spock's mother is a human, how is a romantic/sexual relationship with a Vulcan possible, given that one is emotional and the other suppresses their emotions?

vulcans do have feelings, actually more than the humans, they just don't express them in public (wouldn't surprise me if in private they are 'needy' precisely because they don't get to express their feelings all the time like humans do)
They never really suppress all their emotions and aren't really able to because if they were, they wouldn't need kolinahr (that is the actual suppression of feelings and isn't something that all the vulcans are able to master)


I think dating a vulcan might not be that different from dating a very introvert person
it's not like ALL the humans are super emotional and open about their feelings either

And correct me if I'm wrong but aren't Vulcans physical with eachother through mind melds? Or can they be intimate like humans? Very confused.

There are clues suggesting that they mate and reproduce pretty much like humans do, with telepathy being a 'plus'.
I don't even think that the 'vulcan finger kiss' we see between Sarek and Amanda is really their only way to kiss either (but more like an affectionate gesture regarded as 'acceptable' when in public)

Both humans and vulcans are 'humanoid' races in that there are differences between them but also many similarities that make them compatible as mates.

In "Journey to Babel", Sarek said he married Amanda because "At the time, it seemed the logical thing to do."

He did have a bit of a smirk when he said that. I took that to mean that Sarek was, in the Vulcan way, having a bit of a joke. All that was missing was the wink.

I took that as Sarek's way of saying it was logical to marry the woman you love, but of course no well-mannered Vulcan would actually speak the word out loud.

I agree. Sarek saying that marrying her was logical is kind of romantic if one thinks about it getting called 'logical' by a vulcan must be some huge compliment and he's basically saying that she was amazing and no other choice made more sense than marrying her. And of course, marrying someone you love is pretty logical!
Imagine a vulcan lady hearing him say that about a human!

 

[hux]

But if Vulcans only mate every seven years then would most humans who marry Vulcans be quite sexless people?

And if Vulcans can have (passionate) sex without the Pon Farr then what's the bloody point of Pon Farr

 

[Jedi_Master]

But if Vulcans only mate every seven years then would most humans who marry Vulcans be quite sexless people?

And if Vulcans can have (passionate) sex without the Pon Farr then what's the bloody point of Pon Farr

I was always under the impression that if Vulcans allowed their sexual impulses to run free, Vulcan would be like a combination of The Walking Dead and Caligula.

Vulcan's impulses and emotions are so strong that careful mental discipline must be maintained for their society to survive and thrive, thus the creation of Pon Farr.

 

[shapeshifter]

Since Spock's mother is a human, how is a romantic/sexual relationship with a Vulcan possible, given that one is emotional and the other suppresses their emotions?

See Dennis response. That probably is the best answer given the circumstances. Amanda was portrayed as someone who could challenge the Vulcan's on their, 'suppression of emotion' nonsense. No, she never really said that but it is how I feel she felt about the matter given things she did say.

From there it's not a stretch to imagine Amanda pinning Sarek down and reading him the riot act about how things were going to be from there onward.

I imagine Amanda really shook things up on that World. Perhaps almost as much as the Syrrannite's did 15 decades earlier. Too bad her impact wasn't more fully developed.

And correct me if I'm wrong but aren't Vulcans physical with eachother through mind melds? Or can they be intimate like humans? Very confused.

As far as I know, pregnancy cannot be achieved through melding, nor fwiw, finger-stroking. Both probably are, imo, forms of foreplay.

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

But if Vulcans only mate every seven years then would most humans who marry Vulcans be quite sexless people?

And if Vulcans can have (passionate) sex without the Pon Farr then what's the bloody point of Pon Farr

If Vulcans can have sex without it then maybe those who marry humans are more willing to increase sexual activity because they know their spouses need physicality in a relationship. Maybe?

 

[Timo]

There's no evidence that Vulcans would have less sexual activity than humans, really. What would be the logic of not fucking like rabbits all the time?

Indeed, Vulcans are supposed to be much more passionate than humans - that's what almost terminated their existence in those past wars. They refrain from blowing up their world nowadays, and a big part of that is that at work, they hide their passion. At home, they need not be that careful.

Pon farr was never about copulation. Thanks to the chaste language of the 1960s, it's explicitly about finding a mate, not mating with your find. Sure, once the match is made, there might be sex (although we never witness a case of pon farr where that would be true, other than supposedly ST3 between Spock and Saavik). But there might be sex at any other time, too.

If a mate is found, supposedly pon farr ceases to be a factor, being soothed out of existence by the link between husband and wife. Poor Tuvok in VOY just happened to be outside the range of that link...

As for the female equivalent of pon farr, it's still largely a mystery. B'Elanna Torres in VOY gets the male version, not the female one. And T'Pol gets something anomalous in ENT, probably not particularly representative of the real deal. So, we're still waiting. (Hear us? STILL WAITING!)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Sparkle Fabulosa]

If Pon farr is about finding a mate then why do Vulcans go through it every seven years? If they already have a spouse, what's the point?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

But if Vulcans only mate every seven years then would most humans who marry Vulcans be quite sexless people?

And if Vulcans can have (passionate) sex without the Pon Farr then what's the bloody point of Pon Farr

I always figured that Vulcans can have sex whenever they like, but Pon Farr is a failsafe of sorts for the purpose of conceiving children. Their hormones are all revved up, the women are ovulating (if they've synched up with their mate), and the men are at their maximum sperm count. They can conceive at other times, it's just much more difficult, because Pon Farr is when everything comes together, so to speak.

 

[Dales]

Since Spock's mother is a human, how is a romantic/sexual relationship with a Vulcan possible, given that one is emotional and the other suppresses their emotions? And correct me if I'm wrong but aren't Vulcans physical with eachother through mind melds? Or can they be intimate like humans? Very confused.

I used to wonder the same thing but apparently Vulcans like all living things with male and female body parts can have sex anytime they want and reproduce offsprings. Not even Vulcans can escape nature's law whch means Vulcans can and should be able to have sex anytime they want.



Maybe Vulcans like to pretend they are ignorant on sex or they can control not been turned on easily like most human men but I doubt it as there is an event they go through called pon farr that makes them basically sex maniacs to the point that is curses them embarrassment.
I also doubt all Vulcans people are born only during pon farr.

And in the first film, sarek said he married Amanda out of love which leads to children aka spock. sarek saying he loved Amanda was one of the most powerful scenes in the first film

 

[hux]

It seems clear from the shows and the movies that Vulcans fall in love, have sex and desire sex just as much as Humans do.

I just think it was a mistake to do that to them

It makes Pon Farr an utterly meaningless concept. Star Trek has an unfortunate tendency to "humanise" pretty much every species that comes along (sooner or later). They start out being very "alien" and usually have a cultural point of uniqueness that brings them into conflict with humans but eventually the show makes them all embrace Human characteristics. Human sexuality (Vulcans) human pacifism (Klingons) human material values (Ferenghi) human rationality (the Borg) etc etc

Making Vulcans sexual and romantic was done purely to have more romances take place in the show to please girls

And as everyone knows, girls are silly and smell