You know what I appreciate a lot about Deep Space Nine? That as ‘advanced’ as the humans and other species have gotten, they still fall prey to stereotypes. But they eventually try to learn from their ignorance in that way and not use those.
For example, the Dabo girls. Most of the station sees them as you know, a certain type of girl works there. Floozies, probably, girls with no brain and no interests outside of cheating a customer out of their latinum. No morals to speak of, useful only because they are beautiful. That is the image the station paints of Dabo girls.
But throughout the series we are reminded that being a Dabo girl is just a job, like any other. People like Leeta and Mardah remind us that they have aspirations outside of their occupation, and they have just as much right to those goals as anyone else. While they can take pride in their work (or not, to some it’s just a job) they also take pride in who they are, and in their relationships.
Like the alien woman (Sarda) we meet in episode 5 of the first season (Captive Pursuit). It’s just a job to her. She is there to do her time and make her money, but not to be sexually harassed by Quark. She stands for what she wants and immediately gives us, the audience, a peak at what it’s like.
Anyway, I really love that the crew are forced to come to terms with their prejudices against Dabo girls and learn to treat them with respect and not instant suspicion/distrust.