ASTA said Pretty much this. Though, when it comes to fantasy RPs, not every civilization is going to follow the Western example (or at least it shouldn't--at least in my book).
It's fine. I agree. I think everyone agrees.
ASTA said The civilization may even be comprised of a nonhuman species that has an alien psyche.In several past RPs, I;ve used a species of bipedal, digitgrade wolf people that were completely immune to fear and--as a result--favored chaos over order. This made them incapable of adopting human-engineered concepts like strict gender roles or government. In fact, the very notion of gender roles and an all-encompassing administrative body was completely alien to them. Sexual dimorphism wasn't very noticeable in their species either; females and males were difficult to tell apart from one another from a distance, though both possessed roughly equal physical capability.
Sexual Dimorphism is actually a significant part of the reason why primitive human societies ended up the way they did, so yeah, congratulations. That was actually pretty smart of you to account for that.
I have nothing much else to say.
Uhm. Hm. Lack of criticism. This is abnormal for me. NEXT POST!
ShonHarris said Is this like, where is the line between perpetuating a horrible thing that drags us down still today in Roleplay, or using such to create learning lessons while also mirroring the beast?
Actually it's more about where to draw on the line on genders in general. His example of a female knight going toe to toe with a male knight and doing fine, so long as they don't also look like some kind of skinny supermodel while the men are all scarred muscular hulks, for example. Basically where to draw the line between empowerment and just plain absurdity. Which, really, is "any line you like", depending on what you want to do.
ShonHarris said Ah, also a bit of how much can history bend despite its more overt failings -- good question, all of it.
Quick note: History doesn't have failings. History is merely the chronicling of events based on the perspectives of those who lived within those times and what physical evidence remains of it all.
ShonHarris said In my roleplays I intentionally target social norms that reproduce inequality.
That's cool, so do I. :)
ShonHarris said I use authors like Brent Weeks, brave enough to not only make women more magically inclined, but to place greater ability and value onto people of colour, as reference in my own creations.
That's... Uhm... Okay.
ShonHarris said In my fantasies, women are often matriarchs or have strong representation on shared governance systems. Additionally, these women often are 30-70, powerful, across the board in relation to physical appearance, and, frankly, I use heroic women as inspiration for their attitudes and actions. I also include patriarchal powers, because equality does not mean dominance, but I recognize that men are already viewed as powerful creatures (they really don't need a title to be considered able to change the world).
Oh boy. Heart's in the right place but not the execution on this one. Making one group superior to another group in order to erode the reverse superiority reflected in history or other sources of fiction doesn't help paint any kind of image of equality. It's just inequality on different parties. I also have powerful female characters in my fantasy literature and role plays. Renalta is ruled by two queens, for example... But I don't define their rule by their gender. Other characters might note that it's unorthodox for a pair of women to rule a kingdom, some might even disdain it, but they themselves are not defined by the fact that they're women. They're defined by the fact that they're caring, intelligent, and strong, each in their own way, that compliments one another. Essentially: They're good rulers for their lands, gender be damned, and that is why they are in power, despite what any opposition might think.
And no, they don't need special matriarchal powers for that. They just need to be strong people. Same with male leaders in the world, no special powers of patriarchy for them, just some mix of characteristics that makes them suited for the job at that current time.
ShonHarris said Historically speaking, I would play with inequality to make a point.
Historically speaking, I would play with inequality because it's... Accurate... Sure you can have a female mercenary but a lot of people are going to look on that as being bizarre, some with outright hostility. Whether or not you consider that right or wrong is irrelevant to the fact that it happened.
ShonHarris said I'm doing this in a novel I'm working on and, honestly, it exposes this new perspective to a times we all think we know.
Out of curiosity, how does it expose a new perspective, what perspective would that be? I do like a good read so I hope you wouldn't mind indulging my curiosity.
ShonHarris said By posing a question in a historical roleplay, such as a changing the gender power dynamics in medieval times for example, is a way to explore those worlds too, not necessarily changing history in some sweeping motion. Hm... I'm feeling super unclear this morning. I'll probably check this out again after work to make sure that all made sense.
Changing the gender order against what our ancestors did as a result of sexual dimorphism would be a sweeping change to the state of the planet. It's often why stories which want to empower women in a medieval setting adventure to a fantasy land, like Game of Thrones, or Lord of the Rings.
Like that whole spiel about not knowing what the future really holds. It makes you look bad. :3