Let's Talk about Ferengi

[Sci]

If I could close the topic: yes, Cardassians are misogynist and patriarchal. It is also the case that the cracks in misogyny or patriarchy have been explored best with the Cardassians.

I think that's a fair argument to make.

 

[Charles Phipps]

Thanks Charles. Which was the first?

The fundamentalists I believe. She was originally under the assumption that academic men would be a lot more progressive than they turned out to be. When, in fact, it was a horrendously sexist environment where she was located in and constantly talked down to or hit on.

I'm glad she found a better one.

 

[Trekker09]

It’s pretty strange that, given how the whole Ferengi culture is basically a parody of male supremacy / misogynism, the only 2 female Ferengi we see on DS9-- Ishka and Pel-- are both radically feminist, at least by comparison.
Two things I’ve wondered – why are Pel’s ears much smaller than Ishka’s? Pel had to put on synthetic ears to appear male, but Ishka’s seem the same as the males.
Do female Ferengi have erogenous lobes like the males….was the Grand Negus giving Oo-mox to Ishka, when they were a couple?

 

[Sci]

It’s pretty strange that, given how the whole Ferengi culture is basically a parody of male supremacy / misogynism, the only 2 female Ferengi we see on DS9-- Ishka and Pel-- are both radically feminist, at least by comparison.

I don't think that's strange at all. It makes perfect sense both from an in-universe POV and from a real-life POV. In-universe, Ferengi women are so fundamentally oppressed at every turn that the only women you're likely to see (especially off-world) are women who rebel against the system. From a real-life POV, women who rebel against the system make for much more interesting characters and enable much more interesting stories than women who don't rebel.

Two things I’ve wondered – why are Pel’s ears much smaller than Ishka’s? Pel had to put on synthetic ears to appear male, but Ishka’s seem the same as the males.
Do female Ferengi have erogenous lobes like the males….was the Grand Negus giving Oo-mox to Ishka, when they were a couple?

I believe the implication is that Ferengi women generally have smaller lobes than Ferengi men, but that there's a spectrum of sizes both among women and among men. Hence, men who have been successful are referred to as "having the lobes" for it, and men with especially large earlobes may also receive unfair positive treatment (similar to how men who are especially tall in real life are often given leadership positions unfairly). I also posit that Ferengi men are sexually attracted to smaller earlobes, and for this reason they fetishize non-Ferengi (since smaller earlobes are so common in non-Ferengi species).

 

[Oddish]

Do female Ferengi have erogenous lobes like the males….was the Grand Negus giving Oo-mox to Ishka, when they were a couple?

Probably.

Two things I’ve wondered – why are Pel’s ears much smaller than Ishka’s? Pel had to put on synthetic ears to appear male, but Ishka’s seem the same as the males.

I think that the ears of older Ferengi tend to look bigger. Zek, being both elderly and male, had really enormous ones.

From a real-life POV, women who rebel against the system make for much more interesting characters and enable much more interesting stories than women who don't rebel.

Given that Ferengi females are expected to be naked, submissive, illiterate, confined to the house, and blocked from business, featuring female "properly behaved" Ferengi would be problematic at best.