Going back to John Hughes' original post (v7.409):
<< For Lunars, sex is both sacred and profane. What Pelorian noble would journey
without a fellatrix in his personal retinue? >>
<< LUNAR SEXUALITY
The internal relationship between male and female elements within the self is mirrored in the relationship with your partner. The relationship may be one of equality or inequality depending on how well balanced the individual is.
The relationship between partners is mirrored in politics. Sexuality has far reaching political implications. Only a person who has balance is truly healthy. Androgyny is encouraged.
Lunar culture also recognises need for certain roles where one side or another is emphasised. This emphasis on extremes has spiritual and magical power.
Sex is a way of learning how to balance the polarities within and without. >>
Now on to my questions...
Generally, there is no concept of specific rules for men and women in
public. Instead, there are rules for what acts and functions can be
performed in public. Elaborate rules of courtesy have been written
which divide acts into different lunar phases. The most accepted
division follows these general lines (note that there are further
gradations into the other phases):
Phase Public/private Example
======== ============================== =========================
Full Always acceptable in public Walking dressed in public
clothing
Full Half Acceptable in public, so long Buying at a market (ok as
as the proper restrictions long as the market is
are observed sanctioned); casual
touching (ok as long as the
partner is not proscribed);
being armed (ok as long as
there are official/
religious reasons)
Empty Half Generally unacceptable, unless Caring for children (only
there are overriding factors ok if the family is poor);
having sex in public (only
ok if one or both are
ritual prostitutes)
Black Essentially never acceptable Childbirth
in public
More detailed outlines of this order relates the acceptable acts to
the daily phases of the moon, but such breakdown is too detailed for
our needs.
2. what spaces are all-male? all-female?
There is no overall Lunar proscription on gendered spaces. Certain
cults within the society have their own restrictions, and it is common
courtesy to observe these boundaries.
3. what is the legal status of women? are they allowed to own property on their own? divorce their husbands? be educated?
The Lunar Empire recognizes equal legal status for all citizens.
Non-citizens, or citizens of sub-states (such as the Tripolis cities)
are bound by their own laws.
For lunar citizens, women have full right to own property, to divorce
their husbands, to be educated, etc. There is, however, no positive
law in force regarding education - ie, there is no requirement that
all children be educated equally well.
4. if divorce occurs, what is the legal status of the woman afterwards? can she remarry? does she receive alimony?
Again, just for Lunar citizens, women and men are equally free to
remarry after divorce. Indeed, they are equally free to take multiple
spouses at the same time, providing that this does not violate any
other officially recognized religious obligations. Generally speaking,
alimony is provided if there is proof that one party promised support
to another.
5. how are female children treated? is there infanticide? are they educated? all the time or only for upper classes?
In general, minority children of Lunar citizens are considered to be
under the control of their citizen parents. The citizen parent is
empowered to determine the level of education of each child, the
restrictions of behavior, etc.
The level of education of the female children depends on the
'lunarization' of the individual families. Female children are
generally valued equally well within fully lunarized families, and are
given full access to education. However, there is no legal
requirement that all children be educated, and there is no free
universal education; as a result, less lunarized families may make the
choice to educate girls less than boys.
Infanticide of a child of a citizen - indeed, all killing of a
citizen - is illegal, except for certain ritual religious cases (the
feeding of the Bat, for example, or because the child has violated
certain religious proscriptions).
Children of sub-state citizens (Tripolis, Char-un, etc) are governed
by the norms of their sub-state group.
Hot topic #2 is sexuality. Again, for each of the cultures above:
By default, touching, kissing, etc, in public is acceptable, for married
or unmarried citizen couples. However, there are Lunar religious
proscriptions that at times must be followed, which may restrict activity
on certain days or in certain locations; and certain people may have
further religious obligations at all times and places.
Non-Lunar citizens, that is citizens of substate groups, are further
restricted by their group restrictions on public behavior.
2. how public is representational sexuality? are there nude statues? sexual art in public?
Public art is often sexually explicit. Certain depictions of Natha can be
quite erotic, and statues of Uleria and her lovers are common (though more
active depictions are usually hidden from public view in shrines).
3. what is the view towards pre-marital and extramarital sexual relationships? if discouraged/forbidden, what is the effect of getting caught, on the man and the woman?
There is no universal rule prohibiting pre-marital or extramarital sexual
relationships. All adult citizens of the Empire or of recognized
sub-states must give consent. Minor children of recognized citizens are
incapable of giving consent on their own, and so are under the control and
protection of their parents. Seducers of the innocent would be
responsible for paying damages to the parent.
Non-citizens are also not seen as being capable of giving consent; in this
case, they are either unprotected (in the case of unrecognized foreigners)
or protected and controlled by the state (in the case of recognized
foreign populations).
At marriage, the partners may agree to take on additional restrictions, by
registering for a special marriage at the appropriate cult; in these cases
they would be held accountable for any extramarital relations.
4. what is the view of bisexuality? of adult male homosexuality? of paedophilia?
Bisexually, homosexuality, etc, is acceptable between consenting Lunar
citizens, as long as they don't have special religious restrictions
(for example, soldiers are prohibited from being passive partners
except to more senior soldiers).
Children of citizens, as noted above, are under the control of their
parents.
Regards,
Theo
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