> In Heortling/Orlanthi society, gender roles are split between
"Active/Male"
> (hunting, warfare) and "Passive/Female" (healing, family care). The
dieties
> reflect (or enforce, your choice) this split - most deities of healing are
> female (two exceptoions, Heler and Arroin, and both have "differences"
from
> the male deities), most dieties of combat are male (the Gor sisters have
> their differences from the regular female deities), etc.
This sort of absolute binary opposition makes no sense to me at all, either as a description of the way Heortlings see themselves, or as an outside [absolute] characterisation of gender roles. Women are PASSIVE?? Men are ACTIVE?!? To me it seems positively Solar as well as wildly inaccurate. Both hunting and warfare involve days and days of sitting round doing absolutely nothing, while running a hearth and shaping a child are among the most active and demanding tasks possible. Can I ask for a "please explain"?
John
I wonder if I'll end up like Bernie in his dream,
A displaced person in some foreign border town,
Waiting for a train part hope, part myth,
while the station changes hands.
- - Bruce Cockburn.
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