Re: God of Lunar Feminism?

From: jorganos <joe_at_Psn8tRRWZfEl9wRk4zdwuB8AGotIqFj_p2WZjhqMd8MrpLqbnuKU8Eb_EZRv7fizHjJ22Kk.>
Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2012 08:01:42 -0000

David Cake:
>> But it is worth remembering that the Lunar way is still in some ways a thin veneer over the Dara Happen way. And the closest the Yelmic pantheon gets to a god of feminism is Gorgorma, who is represented in near demonic fashion, and as a hidden shadow power, because the Yelmic pantheon in general is REALLY hostile to anything like feminism, very very dedicated to maintaining traditional gender roles, and considers the very idea of feminism terrifying and wrong.

I tend to regard the Lunar Way as sidestepping the dominant Dara Happan way of control over the "lesser cultures" in the empire. Emperorhood and the hierarchy below the emperor is intrinsically Dara Happan, and was adopted even by the Carmanian conquerors of Dara Happa. The tiered society has pervaded most of the subject lands, too, with the Darjiini holding out more strongly. Administration by Dara Happan bureaucracy (aristocracy) has been a fact of life in Peloria since the Bright Empire, and for much longer in the Oslir bowl.

Paul King:
> I don't think that that is correct. Politically it could be said that the Lunar Way is a thin veneer over the Dara Happan Empire, and I'd largely agree with that. And it sounds as if the current thinking on the Takenegi/Moonson cult may have it as a Lunar veneer over Dara Happan Emperor worship. But I think that that is as far as it goes. The Lunar way draws from a lot of non-Dara Happan sources (IIRC Natha is Pelandan - and don't forget about Darsen !). I think that the cyclical Lunar power is in some way fundamentally feminine at a mythic level. And don't forget that the Lunar Way is about breaking down barriers and change while the deeply conservative Solar religion is very much about keeping people in their places and keeping things the same.

All that is true - and yet, the Empire employs all the Dara Happan tiers of society, administration etc. Everyone in the Empire may join the Lunar culture and thereby leave the context organized by the Dara Happans. Far from a majority of Pelorians do so. Many who did join the Lunar culture now are part of the mobs, possibly maintaining their former jobs and positions when not following the demagogues, but as possibly living a life on the streets.

> I think that the integration with Dara Happan religion is a lot like the integration with all the other religions linked into the Lunar Way, and it's importance is due to politics rather than anything built into the Lunar Way.

Social tiers, limitation of rights (or, expressed in the Dara Happan mindset, gracious limited concession of rights) etc. are part and parcel of the Empire. Some of this pertains to feminism, but a lot more pertains to emancipation of the lower tiers. The call for Equal Rites involves most of the male inhabitants of Peloria, too. Modern day concepts of feminism just are out of place.