Re-watching as an adult I have such a humongous appreciation for the character of Deanna Troi. As a kid all i heard was my mom scoffing at her jumpsuits (which she found skimpy) and other people poking fun of her obvious (seemingly) useless observation, but rewatching the first season of next gen as an adult all I see is how her character exemplifies how much Roddenberry's future values empathy. She sits at the left hand of the captions at all time. She's a COMMANDER. A psychologist and a literal empath sits at the helm of the starship.
She's also, I think, a very strong female character. She's mindful of how other's feel (she kinda has to be) but she doesn't allow them to walk all over her. When the humans on her ship stray into disrespect of her culture (even the parts she doesn't necessarily agree with herself) she reminds them that their culture is equally strange to an outsider. And while her jumpsuits may be tight and definitely not starfleet regulation, considering how betazoids use nudity to denote full honesty its likely she sees the boxy starfleet uniforms as too concealing and her jumpsuits are probably a compromise in the name of cultural sensitivity and comfort.
She isn't as commanding as Dr. Crusher or as physically strong as commander Yar, but she is still respected. As someone who comes from a planet where women are given respect implicitly, it makes sense that she would not feel the need to dominate those around her in order to earn respect, and I think the actress made interesting choices in how that manifests in her character.
Anyway, this is a long rambly post, but the point is, I love the women of Star Trek!
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