>So you subscribe to the "men are too incompetent to
>talk and act at the same time" theory? Weren't we
>saying something earlier about bias against men being
>just as unfair as bias against women? We have this
>lovely picture of the women in the loom house making
>all the decisions that run the clan, as they weave -
>and the men can't manage anything more constructive
>than drinking, while they do their talking?
It's more the fact that the work men do tends to make talking at the same time impractical. Particularly the group discussions which decide things.
>> I think that Nandan would be perfect to
>> provide a needed outlet for males who wish to become
>> healers in the society
>
>Yes, that sounds good. Though also stopping them from
>being husbands and fathers sounds pretty silly.
Cultural practices often seem silly to outsiders. In Glorantha we have better excuses than the real world. In this case it is that Ernalda only shares her secrets with women. For a man to get access to those secrets he has to persuade the goddess that he's a woman in a man's body. Just as a Vingan has to persuade Orlanth that she's a man in a woman's body.
>My Glorantha may well do, the basic facts of how the
>human body and low level technology work does not.
You need to meet some old farmers. Sure there are some jobs that in a low tech society they can't do and others they have to have help with but they'll carry on into their seventies and even eighties. One I knew was working on the day he died at over 70. He was still capable of manhandling a sheep and with larger animals you have to persuade to move where you want whatever age you are. Same with warriors, they'll lose speed and need to retire long before they lose the strength to do basic weapons training.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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