Synopsis: A female Ferengi disguises herself as male in order to be able to engage in business opportunities.
This episode is an illustration of how we can projection our shadow onto others. In this case, how an entire species, here the Ferengi, are having negative projections placed upon them.
In “Rules of Acquisition” Pel, a female Ferengi disguised as a male, arrives at the station, brilliant and resourceful, and having studied the 285 Rules of Acquisition. The only problem being that in order to engage in any type of public endeavor she must wear prosthetic ear lobes, the Ferengi equivalent of male organs.
We are told in this episode that male Ferengis prefer their females “naked and submissive” (Behr & Livingston, 1993), rather how the Logos-driven rational conscious ego, likes anything from the Eros-driven irrational unconscious suppressed. However, just as the Ferengi are suppressing their females, Starfleet suppresses the unconscious traits of greed, gluttony, and exploitation of others, yet projects these tendencies upon the Ferengi. But for the Starfleet officers to project these qualities onto the Ferengi, means that there is a bit of unconscious aspects of these undesirable characteristics to be found in them as well. Further, while the Ferengi treatment of women is seen as abhorrent, Starfleet itself does tend to sexualize their own female officers, making them pleasing to the male gaze. This projects a shadow of our current culture into the future world of Starfleet. But projecting an unconscious trait onto something else is how we become aware of our shadow aspects. And once we acknowledge these tendencies in ourselves, we can begin the work of owning up to them and changing how they are perceived.
Reference:
Behr, I. S.. (Writer), & Livingston, D. (Director). (1993, November 7). Rules of acquisition (Season 2, Episode 7) [TV series episode]. In M. Piller & R. Berman (Executive Producers), Star trek: Deep space nine. Paramount Television.
mydailysoultrek 