Star Trek: 10 Species Who Need To Get With The Times
These alien societies will absolutely be on the wrong side of galactic history.
Star Trek has introduced us to countless alien societies over the years with all kinds of different cultures and laws. Of course all of these societies have their own pros and cons, but it's clear that some are more progressive than others.
In this list we're going to look at species in Trek who hold outdated beliefs and standards that hold their society back.
Of course, we can't really judge a pre-warp society by the same standards as an interstellar empire. This is why the Federation waits to make first contact until a species has become warp-capable. But sometimes, a society can invent warp drive and still be very regressive in other ways. So here, we're going to focus on alien societies who have made it to the final frontier, but hold on to harmful old-timey beliefs and standards that hold no place in the future.
10. The Ferengi
The Ferengi are a notoriously hyper-capitalist society. They also have an incredibly sexist history of banning women from wearing clothes or participating in their society at all. They didn't even invent warp drive themselves, instead purchasing the technology from someone else.
The Ferengi absolutely bear mentioning here, but, unlike some of the others we're going to be talking about, the Ferengi actually became much more progressive towards the end of the 24th century.
Quark and Rom's mother, Ishka kickstarted a revolution in Ferengi society when she began helping Grand Nagus Zek run the Ferengi economy, as his mind was slowly slipping from his old age. She stood up to sexist Ferengi customs by wearing clothes and participating in business, and worked to change her society for the better. Later, thanks to her input, Zek appointed her son, Rom, as the new Grand Nagus, who, along with his wife Leeta, further pushed the Ferengi people towards equality, and even future membership in the Federation.
By the time we saw Ferenginar in Lower Decks, their society was still toxically dominated by corporations, but they were getting better and gender equality was becoming much more normalised. Besides, on this list we've got bigger fish to fry…