> Such a feat doesn't mean that it is "generally borne" by the father.
> >From my own extensive conversations with midwives I have been told, again
> and again, that the pains of labor are an important part of childbirth.
Perhaps part of what Couvade does is help "spread the extra pain around" -- after all, uz mothers have to face *more* pain than human mothers, what with this nasty business of horrible chaotic deities ripping out wombs and clawing away at fertile bits and burning away innards and jumping up and down on one's intensines and such. Fah, hoomans got it *easy,* as the uz no doubt grumble. ("Urrr, Greg loves dem more, da sissies, no damn D'Wargon for dem." )
Perhaps, after the advent of the Curse o' Kin, Xiola Umbar *needs* to provide the spell to uz, to make the entire process survivable since uz mothers are in such incredible, terrible pain in the process. Couvade just dulls it down to the (necessary, survivable) level. Males get to handle the extra pain so it doesn't overload the mother. 'Sides, it's good for the boys, makes 'em fit.
Plus makes XU's cult more useful, which is good for the cult in general.
> I also want to note that, according to the best studies that I have seen,
> the socieites wherein men experience the labor pains are thos ein which the
> men are essentially trying to take some of the credit or virtue of the
> birth away form the mother. It is less of a compassionate or sympathetic
> virtue than it appears to be.
Well, yes, but rather than this being a patriarchal society in which males are shifting attention, it's a process by which a matriarchal society is sloughing away excessive pain onto the males. The males, if anything, are probably hoping to run to the mountains like Keith suggests! Good uz adventure, definitely.
James
Powered by hypermail