Tag: role-egal
Egalitarianism & Gender Roles in Umbak
Posted on November 26, 2025
The roles of Women and Men in Umbakian Culture are distinct, though the genders are considered equal for the most part in terms of rights – marriage may be arranged for alliances, but it is NOT forced. Lineage is traced the bloodline of the males.
Men’s Roles & Culture in Umbak
Fashion: As with most things Umbakian, clothing fashion is highly utilitarian. Umbakian patriarchs of the family do not cut their hair, otherwise the style for men is short. They wear a long golden cloak if not, cloaks are normally pelvis length. Men do NOT dye their hair in Umbakian culture.
Women’s Roles & Culture in Umbak
Primary Role: Every woman is expected to have 3 children in their life time. They are expected to remain the primary caregiver and only work in the cottage industry for the first 3 years of their offspring’s life. Older women and adolescent girls function as day care workers for some years. By the age of 30-40, most are allowed to “retire” – they seek volunteer work or things to keep them busy, or may stay employed in their job; exemptions are caretakers of craft and knowledge. If they are good engineers and designers, good with science and/or alchemy – they go to the “Tinkerers Hall” were they are indoctrinated into faith of Ikribu. After they are sent to The Iron Alloy Halls and work on the fusing of Virtues and perfection of build – automation, crop improvement, selective breeding, faster chemical processes. Aptitude demonstrated at a young age here trumps all other laws. Those with faith aptitude are allowed to pursue any career or role in the faith of the Lightbringers they qualify for.
Fashion: Women are encouraged to express themselves within the normal conventions of the culture. Dying of hair and use of makeup is only encouraged in natural colors. As with most things Umbakian, clothing fashion is highly utilitarian.
Martial: They are tested and if found to be martially insufficient, they can go serve as a field medic, can be exiled, or serve a year of penance in the cloister of Aerna and return to their same community. Usually a sentence of shame, guilt, or a job so dangerous they don’t live long. Serves as a deterrent. Males at least get trained for 6 months before testing. Weak ones end up breaking something – they are given the option of a logistics job or sent back to the community with an “at least I tried” marker. After healing, find any local work. Each community must contribute to the war effort – based on size and composition. Lottery to send required draftees. Women are considered equal if they can do the job, nothing specifically barring them.
Egalitarianism & Gender Roles in Rhyl
Posted on November 26, 2025
The blending of so many influences has created a decent level of egalitarianism in Rhyl. This is slightly improved from the overall level of su_permalink id=”5035″]Egalitarianism, Gender Roles & Relationships[/su_permalink] in the Steel Realms. Maintaining the ancient Lodge Tradition in Rhyl has gone a long way to keeping a level playing field, although more along the lines of “separate but equal” than true uniform equality.
Women are flat out afforded the same legal rights as men. This stems from when women fought alongside men on the front lines defending Rhyl from the Lich Lords. Although this is true, oftentimes the dominant human male operators will use tradition & male dominated war pursuits as a means of denigrating non-human and female to gain an advantage in social dealings. The proximity of so many elves and halflings, with the equality inherent in their own cultures, is a constant check on the human patriarchy that is aggressively pushed.
- Age of Consent: 16 (increased in the Tea House Revival of CY 9126)
- Age of Betrothal: 8 (illegal to consummate until age 15)
Egalitarianism & Gender Roles at North Gate Garrison
Posted on November 26, 2025 in Steel-Realms
Gender Roles at North Gate Garrison are generally the same as any active war zone, not the typical reflected in Egalitarianism, Gender Roles & Relationships of the Steel Realms. Many women who serve here directly are priestesses and Magi, and considered warriors to the common soldier. However, the harsh realities of war mean the physicality of the male species dominates in North Gate Garrison. That is to say every request for service is answered with a place on the Autumn Wall where women cannot find a place among arms bearing mainline soldiers, there is more than enough place for critical logistics, medics, medical tents, and even planning for those with great academic accomplishment.
There is no gender bias in the various faiths represented at The Autumn Wall and the Rhylander Green Conjurists organize most of the Recovery Operations at North Gate Garrison to ensure evil auras, curses, taints and corruptions don’t enter the ranks of those serving or the lands behind the wall.
Egalitarianism, Gender Roles & Relationships in the Realms
Posted on November 13, 2016 in Steel-Realms
Egalitarianism, Gender Roles & Relationships all have a healthy and modern outlook in most of the realms. Few religions express much in the way of specifics (except the Lightbringers), instead focusing on the additions to a union which would make it more sanctified and a ‘perfect’ one in the eyes of the faith. In matters of relationships, women have nearly as many of the same rites as men. Polygamy and polyamory are openly practiced in a few places, irrespective of gender. Women have the right to dissolve marital unions, and are entitled to support (though in effect get usually less than they need). In Elven society, women have even more rights and are in absolute control of their bodies – it is inviolate.
Much of this stems back from the earliest times, when death in war took such a massive cost in life, and the goddess Ezrilus caused the flower of life to bloom in all creatures, no mater the mating between species. And bloom it did, unending, with unintended results. The fertility rate is about 80%. Being barren is nearly unheard of, except in the last thousand years.
Among most humanoids, females are physically slightly weaker or smaller in sheer bulk/stature than the normal male of the same species, and where survival is a daily pressing concern it limits them to fewer societal roles (though does not necessarily lessen their value). There is more equity among those of higher social standing than Commoners. A top-down hierarchy is still the dominant social structure in most things.
Gender Egalitarianism
Origins: After the initial massive conflicts, most of the most powerful that died were male, owing to a more classic superficial medieval type bravado and bias the masculine perspective forced many to needlessly endanger themselves over more qualified women and losses were significantly greater. Many of the powerful remaining wizards and priests were female and demanded better representation among the political structures in the new civilization being built. Going forward. More rights afforded for property ownership (still nearly universal in the Steel Realms), legal standing and recourse, and social and bodily autonomy. This carried forward till it’s fall. It still persists in Rhyl and in the Riverlands of Dunstrand (though that is slowly eroding to a more biased social standing) more than anywhere else.
Current State: Slowly over time, a more traditional superficial medieval hierarchy has begun to take hold. The elves and halflings absolutely reject this patriarchal hierarchy. The ducateon never had it, and their dwarven ken have a much higher measure of equality than their human counterparts in many places.
Males hold most of the dominant positions of power, and in general the cultures are patriarchal (less so in the past). Key exceptions to this are some Pine Tribes clans, Skraelings (and many Halfling enclaves), Ducateons (caste, not gender is the main factor), Wyld Aelf clans, the places like the Grand Duchy of Dunstrand and the Duchy of Aelmir (wherein lies Oerdney – the seat of the High King); females are treated as equals in many things – legal standing, property, marriage, and business. Education is seen to be of general value, and only in the most survival oriented climes or cultures is access to it (though few and far between in general) limited by gender/sex.
Reproductive Rights of the RealmsThere is no superstitious nonsense around ‘the miracle of life’ – every day life is shown to be cheap and its flame easily extinguished. It takes so little effort to create a life, that women had to be granted more control over birth control, abortion, and birth practices.
Atypical Gender/Sex Expressions: The binary of female and male conform to definitions brought on by appearance and sexual characteristics. “Krasals” are a form of hermaphrodite that is common (2% of humans) in the southern heartlands and are typically androgynous in appearance; they are accepted there and in the central heartlands without issue. The Pine Tribes accept without issue the “Wind Wending” – those among them with atypical sexual and gender preferences (homosexuals, hermaphrodite, cross dressers and others) both in appearance and sexual characteristics. Those of the Wyld Faith are much more accepting of sexual and gender fluidity than either the regimented Light Bringers or Unholy Trio of Darkness.