Socialator

Cassiopeia is harassed for being a socialator by members of the Otori Sect ^{(TOS: "Saga of a Star World")}.

A socialator is a courtesan within the upper crust of society of The Twelve Colonies.

The socialator is a 4,000 yahrens old profession sanctified by the elders, wherein a person obliges the desires of others. It is not without its detractors, as those who practice this profession are scorned by members of the Otori Sect of the Gemonese.

Cassiopeia was a socialator prior to the Battle of Cimtar ^{(TOS: "Saga of a Star World")}.

Tie-in Material Information

• According to Encyclopedia Galactica (a non-canonical piece of merchandise published in 1979):

A socialator is a woman who is dedicated to the entertainment and pleasure of others. They are skilled in music and the dance and can speak easily and with intelligence on nearly any subject. On the planet Scorpio, members of this caste are looked upon with special respect and admiration.

Cassiopeia's home world is given as Scorpio, not Gemoni. On her homeworld, Cassiopeia was a Socialator, one of a caste whose function was to entertain and give pleasure to others. Socialators were skilled in music and the dance, and could speak with intelligence on nearly any subject. As for her change in profession, it is mentioned that since her arrival aboard Galactica, she "trained as a medical corpsman and now pursues that profession exclusively".

Notes

• A common mis-understanding with "socialator" was that it was likened to a prostitute or "space hooker," the latter term being used by actress Laurette Spang herself in Sciography.

• Glen A. Larson noted that the presence of socialators in Colonial society were "an attempt to try and be a little more sophisticated," and that socialators were "like a geisha, in that tradition. It wasn't purely sexual."

• The legality of prostitution under Colonial law was maintained in the Re-imagined Series, as noted in the episode "Black Market."