From: Alex Ferguson (alex@dcs.gla.ac.uk)
Date: Sat 16 Jul 1994 - 10:36:24 EEST
Michelle Ringo:
> Wizardry, Sorcery, Priesthood would not be gender specific.
I disagree, since the use of significant magic and the holding of religious office is substantially corrolated in the West, and in Loskalm, qualification for either require progressing through (some at least notionally) martial post. Plus of course the holding of religious office is likely to be restricted to persons of the same gender as the prophets and (majority of the) saints, since they'd be acting "in their name", in religious services and otherwise.
> One of the differences in Hrestoli based worship amongst the
> wizards (unlike the Seshnela wizards) is that they "do not
> rail against the common pleasures, nor threaten loss of
> Solace for feeling no guilt over love and hunger". This
> moves further away from a celibate priest/monk approach of
> the Catholic church.
Note that the Rokari, at any rate, don't have celibate priest/monks (since it's a heriditary function), so this isn't something the Loskalmi have to "move away from", in Gloranthan terms. There may be some posts which require this in either sect, but clearly not the vast majority.
> There is not dicta that women can not be members
> of the Order of the Red Garter and the Order of the Swallow.
> Yes, history of the Loskalmi reflect that only men have been
> Kings and Heads of these Orders. Analagously, the USA has
> no prohibition against a woman president, but simply has not
> had one elected to date.
But then the USA doesn't have a (formal) caste or class system. For Loskalm to "not prohibit" women becoming Kings or Grand Knights, it would have to specifically include them in the class system. If this were true of all Loskalmi women, it would, I've already argued, have fairly strange results for Loskalmi social organisation. It also would imply that the instigators of the class system "anticipated" progress for women (all the way) through it, against historical expectations.
On the other hand, I'd not be opposed to the proverbially "odd" woman joining the Hrestoli class system by special dispensation, or some such. Probably this would involve leaving the women's "path", remaining unmarried, and the like. (Roughly what some of my Deluded Critics have proposed for the Rokari, in fact, arising from their Heretical Views on caste.)
> Nevertheless, at least one side of this
> conflict should be fairly attractive to PCs of both genders.
I'm not sure either side is particularly attractive to either gender, myself. Depends what one likes, to coin a phrase, though.
Alex.
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