>As for me, well, I am genuinely surprised that anyone familiar with the
>published material thinks that Ernaldan women would be anything other
>than savage defenders of hearth and home. Professional warriors? Nope.
>Experienced and competent? Probably not. But willing, able and going to
>make the effort--of course!
If you look at Thunder Rebels though the cultural assumptions of modern Europe and the US you see a society where women do all the caring and nurturing while the men do all the active and exciting stuff. So I can see where the idea comes from. I've encountered enough different cultures to see that there are alternatives and some make more sense in this context.
We know from Storm Tribe that Heortling women call on Vinga for protection and aid but that can be interpreted as passively waiting for assistance. In practice it is probably a prelude to taking action. When they get really angry it's not Vinga they call on but Maran or Babeester Gor. Then everyone else gets frightened at the possibility of deaths and weregeld. So there's a cultural pressure on women *not* to get that angry.
>Dara Happan noble women? Probbly screamie meemies, sure.
Even there I think there's a limit. Push Dendara too far and her sister Gorgorma appears.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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