There's a lot wink-wink-nod-nod going on over the holodecks and the dabo girls. Is Quark pimpin'?
Is Quark a Pimp?
- Thread starter JeffinOakland
- Start date
Not an actual pimp, but Quark's is a nod to the saloons/brothels of the wild west movies. The holodecks are capable of providing sexual pleasures, something Quark reminds people of now and then. Same like how you could go to the prostitutes in a saloon. So there is that. But actually pimping out the dabo girls? Nope.
Although I don't think so, let's suppose for a moment he is. I'm curious whether our enlightened Federation (perhaps by means of Odo) would kick him off the station / press charges? I mean, we see them give Quark some leeway in his shadier businesses, but there must be a limit to that.
Last edited:
I suppose you're right about Bajoran law being the final authority there, but I'm not entirely sure about the Feds having no say in it whatsoever. But that's a separate discussion.
He has proven in the past he can comply with jurisdiction that doesn't agree with him on a personal level -- he served under the Cardassians without running into too much trouble.
Come to think of it, what stance would Cardassian law have taken on such issues? And back then, Quark already was on the station, too.
While the short answer is "no," the long answer is that Ferengi see sexuality as part of a larger business equation. If I remember correctly, Sisko reprimanded Quark in an early episode for expectig sexual favors from a newly hired woman. In The Wire, Quark contacts a Cardassian who jokes that one of his Dabo girls would have bankrupted him (how is left open to the imaginaton). And when discussing Kira's pregnancy, Quark describes Ferengi pregnancy as "a rental." Even if he isn't peddling flesh, Quark makes sex available, in some for or other. If a woman goes home with one of Quark's clients, he is none the worse.
In our society, we are seeing a slightly relaxed attitude towards prostitution as a victimless crime and a somewhat greater sympathy for prostitutes as "sex workers" who deserve to be protected by the law and treated with compassion. There is even a push to decriminalize prostitution to help prostitutes get help and have legal rights when they are abused/raped. I wonder where humans will be in 200 on the subject of the world's oldest profession. In ST, we see Starfleet officers encounter prostitution and sexual slavery with various reactions. Is it even made clear that prostitution is against federal law? Sisko, as a Starfleet Commander would never knowingly break Fedration law. Sisko and Kira both seem disgusted by Quark on a personal level but tolerate Quark's, and everything it offers, as a necessary evil.
While it certainly is undeniable Quark was running a holographic brothel, I never got the impression the dabo girls were prostituting themselves for him, so no, not a pimp.
Do holograms have rights? Are holograms sentient? Can a holographed prostitute refuse to do her job?
The Dabo girls aren't prostitutes, they're there to distract the people playing the games.
As for the holosuites: Quark lets people have sex in them, true, but he's not responsible for it.
As for the holosuites: Quark lets people have sex in them, true, but he's not responsible for it.
In the nihilistic and austere atmosphere of the occupation and given the preferences of Cardassian soldiery generally, well, yes, frankly. I don't think he would've had too many scruples about a move into what would be potentially a lucrative sector.
In the DS9 era, no. The Federations rubs off on him as he occasionally laments.
In the DS9 era, no. The Federations rubs off on him as he occasionally laments.
Hmmm... didn't think of those comfort women (though that's more a case of sexual slavery than prostitution). Then again, I believe that in a state like Nazi Germany, being a prostitute or pimp could land you in a concentration camp, even though the state/army ran its own centralized brothels in some places - so the comfort women need not necessarily indicate Quark would have been allowed to run an private enterprise in that sector.
Last edited:
Presumably the ones in Quark's holosuites aren't, with the possible exception of Vic Fontaine, but then no one seems to have sex with him.
I wasn't implying Quark acted as their pimp, but that perhaps he looked away, if not encouraged, any side business they might have, particularly during the occupation.
I don't know, but he certainly dressed like one...
Yes, Sisko told Quark he could not demand sexual favors from the dabo girls even when favors were part of the labor contract she signed. Odo was prepared to enforce it. I don't think they said whether prositution was against Bajoran law or just Sisko's policy on the station, but I think we can conclude that prostitution was not part of the dabo girls' job. Not to say it never happened, but I don't think Quark was their pimp if it did.
No. No. Yes, if that is how they were programmed, but the holodeck user could respond in any way - violence, rape, reprogramming the character, without legal consequences. Even Vic didn't have legal rights - when the mob took over his casino, Odo didn't help him, other senior staff did within the context of the holodeck fantasy.
Similar threads
