> In message <Pine.GSO.4.63.0704061544340.13794_at_mhR2AU4b_ucdB2-Mxc7FOzecTxoUl3Vm4rQq1VNG-Td9Owxp3qdU_3qPCjLLQemPRAPd9TwSwpmNkWVadMxk6ofMqm7k-8EcE5Ofb4LFzqpUPudKt0UCJhkXFBRDeuHvhI0.yahoo.invalid> Michael Hitchens writes:
>> On Thu, 5 Apr 2007, donald_at_j3RNv3mGNIatnfIpTbmA7m0xexPNUkYZoJeHqXaTYhjnHpygmmT86eZlBfgA64PNV1MeqLNnJmmmifSm4rDOek70.yahoo.invalid wrote:
>
>>> I'd regard Vinga as a mainstream minority deity, probably the
>>> biggest of the 15% of women who don't follow Ernalda. Only a
>>> minority of healers will follow Chalana Arroy.
>>
>> I'm not sure I agree with this. Vinga is a dedicated warrior cult (the
>> default sub-cult is Vinga *spearwoman* afterall). Dedicated Warriors
>> aren't the majority amongst men - dedicated farmers are. What about women
>> who don;t want to weave etc, but want to farm and shepherd? Vinga offers
>> nothing to them. What cult do they join?
>
> Vinga Orolmarn for herders into which I would include shepherds.
> Vinga Orlanthcarl for the few who are wealthy enough to have a
> plough and ox team. I suspect the commonest subcult being Vinga
> the spearwoman reflects the fact that as men they are required
> to turn out with the fyrd. So they are seen as warriors even
> though their main occupation is something else whereas a man
> doing the same work might follow Durev.
Fair enough - I'd been mising that refernce to Orlanthcarl etc in my re-reading of Vinga. But then I ask does the "men in women's bodies" quotes apply just to the Vingan warriors or to all Vingans?
Becuase I think that most Vingans would be farmers (like most Orlanthi men) not full time warriors.
Because I see a real problem with the prohibition of Vingans and pregnancy - it's saying that if you are a woman and want to be a *farmer* you can't get pregnant. I can't see that sense in that.
I can see it for a warrior - real slows you down in combat. But lots ofpregnant women in the real world work in the fields, so why the prohibition?
Michael
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