I got DD interested in Trek when she was about 10. Now, at 18, she was so upset by the news that she called me at work and we talked for an hour.
I think Spock is a wonderful hero for anyone who has suffered alienation of any kind: racial, sexual, emotional, what have you. He is literally an alien surrounded by humans who do not always know how to relate to him. He is also half human, but feels obliged to keep that part of himself hidden. I daresay each of us has felt that way at least sometimes. A few of us feel that way a lot of the time. If Captain Kirk represents the kind of person we would like to be, Spock represents the person we happen to be – and he reminds us that it’s OK to be that kind of person.