Hey, I'm a big fan of reading DWMs. Usually, if you're interested in some problem, a Dead White Male has thought about it at length several centuries ago. (But the problem often is getting a decent translation.)
> No pejorative sense was implied, it was simply a description of
> our creative corpus. In case you haven't noticed, I happen to love the
> place. (I do worry some times about our 'boys club' mentality, but vey, I
> married a Lunar vingan who is known to quote 'violence is always an option'
> with a manic grin in our discussions of household finances).
>
> EDUCATING AND 'SELLING' BRIDES
>
> If you're using the top down 'marriage as an exchange of women between clans
> to build alliances' model (and though it always has to be balanced with the
> view 'from the ground', it has a certain utility) then it is still good
> sense to educate and invest in your daughters. Why? Because if women are a
> commodity, they're a valuable commodity. The bridewealth for a lawspeaker or
> priestess is going to be much higher than for an uneducated sheep girl.
Yup. But it seems to me like a case of the prisoner's dilemma. If you put resources into educating the girlies, and then marry them off into other clans, then you don't have a *guarantee* you'll see the benefit of their education. If you devote the same resources into educating your testosterone-poisoned males, then you *know* that most of them will be sticking around.
Counterarguments:
1. Men are more likely to die in battle, and so their lifespan is shorter. (Assuming CA
cultists keep death in childbirth pretty low). So educating women works out near even in
terms of direct benefits to the clan.
2. Economies of scale - doesn't cost that much extra to educate/train the womenfolk. The
Lhankor Mhy priests will just have to shout louder in the class.
3. Many different varieties of marriage in Heortling society. Not all women marry
extra-clan.
4. Well-educated brides married outside the clan earn respect of other clans (as you
say).
5. Well-educated brides married outside the clan can influence the political behaviour of
the clans they join.
6. Giving well-educated brides to other clans shows generousity. Orlanth blesses generous
clans.
7. Ernaldans run the tula anyway. (Like, would *you* put Orlanth in charge of education?)
This makes me think of a potential KoDP special event. Like, a clan could approach your clan saying "We have no wise lawspeaker/canny trader/powerful magician/great warrior/wise leader, like XXX (a noble in your clan with renowned or heroic in an attribute). We wish to marry and adopt him/her into our clan". The clan could then respond with decline, exchanging for treasure/wealth, agreeing if they make an alliance/join your tribe, granting the favour for nothing, or offering them someone else (maybe they'd be happy with just an expert level noble). You could gain big, but *gulp* you might lose your favorite noble.
Tom
End of The Glorantha Digest V7 #849
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