Sorry I'm coming in on this late...
Michael Schwartz:
>I am quite fond of Nandan the Birthing Man, based on the few bits of
>information from both playtest and the assorted comments made here on the
>Digest. Sun County crossdressing is as naff, if not moreso, because it
>lacks in my mind the mythic qualities found in the Nandan descriptions.
As Simon Hibbs ably pointed out, Sun County transvestitism is deeply ingrained in the original RQ2 cult write-up where it states that male Light Sons are forbidden to dress up as women: it occured to me that you only need rules against something like this if there is indeed a problem with it!
As to Sun County crossdressing being "naff" because it "because it lacks in
my mind the mythic qualities found in the Nandan descriptions", please have
a look at the "Secret History of Sun County" where myself, Jane Williams,
Nick Brooke and (especially for this aspect) Peter Metcalfe explore this
issue in some "mythic" detail. Available in Questlines II and Jane
Williams' excellent web site
<http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~janewill/gloranth/>.
>I don't accept the "smacks of political correctness" defense. The Sun
>County material makes light of transgenderism without sensitivity; that
>is downright prejudice, not a mere lack of political correctness.
IMO, any Sun County material that "makes light" (ha ha) of transgenderism does so with the same "caring sharing sensitivity" of that fine Australian, Dame Edna Everage.
>Let the grognards bitch and moan all they want: that is what
>they do best. In the meantime, I will continue to tout the magic
>and mystery of Nandan as a worthy addition to Gloranthan canon.
Like Simon, my main objection to Nandan at the time was we seemed to be getting a major Heortling diety foisted upon us, and a pretty bloody stupid and unnecessary one at that for all the reasons argued about in Digests v8 #1 - #34 passim. But Nandan's not the only example of this trend.
>Perhaps it is the persecution complex arising from being a male bisexual
>in America which is speaking. Perhaps it is the legions of friends
>throughout my life who have been gay and/or transgendered. All I know is
>that the "all-inclusiveness" so dreaded by many on this digest is
>something that makes me *proud* to number myself amongst Glorantha's
>long-time fans. The homophobic behavior of people on this list, however,
>does not.
Then perhaps you should move to Australia, we seem to be a bit more relaxed about such things, as the massed Drag Queens and homage to Priscilla Queen of the Desert in last night's Olympic Closing Ceremony might attest. (Or did NBC in their wisdom delete this from your delayed telecast? - apparently they hacked great bleeding chunks out of the Opening Ceremony.)
Cheers,
MOB
Email me : mailto:mrmob_at_ozemail.com.au
MOB's Home Page: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~mrmob/index.html
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