Star Trek: The Next Generation/Headscratchers: Difference between revisions
Star Trek: The Next Generation/Headscratchers (view source)
Revision as of 04:15, 25 September 2015
, 8 years ago→Wacky Ferengi Misogyny
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*** But it also removes potential investors and buyers. The average wage slave Ferengi could be worried about competition, but the rich ones should be pushing for equality since it'll let them target more people and make more money. To be fair, this ended up happening in [[Deep Space Nine]] with Nilva, but even he had to have the simple logic spelled out by Quark.
** I suppose the most honest answer is that the Ferengi are straw men. A clever and observant critique of capitalism does not play out through them -- just crass obviousness. One might as well ask why they prohibit unions. Unions can be as profitable and as manipulative and exploitative as corporations. However, as far as the sexism goes, one might rationalize that the Ferengi aren't as good capitalists as they think they are. Perhaps the oppression of women pre-existed the rise of mercantile behaviour in Ferengi society, and values never quite "caught up."
** Interestingly, some of the post-DS9 novels do bother to examine the effects this is having on the Ferengi economy and culture. Basically, those who take the long-term view of general raised profits are very pleased... clothing and jewelry sales are way up (from females buying them or having them bought for them), as are cold medications (since females can leave the house they're now experiencing the rotten Ferengi weather and getting sick). Those who take a more personal view are rather unhappy... Ferengi females will work for less and put up with a lot more abuse, and are starting to push a lot of males out of lower-ranked positions because of it, meaning that while more Ferengi females are employed, more Ferengi males are ''unemployed'' simply because they have more ambition and pride.
== The Sets ==
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