Avishraa Reloaded

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tirades:2019-07-31 [2020/05/07 23:36] – shyriathtirades:2019-07-31 [2024/01/25 09:43] (current) – ↷ Links adapted because of a move operation shyriath
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 Before I begin, though, I would like to insert a brief disclaimer here, since this is a topic that, in one aspect or another, many people have strong feelings about: Before I begin, though, I would like to insert a brief disclaimer here, since this is a topic that, in one aspect or another, many people have strong feelings about:
  
-I am, generally speaking, socially liberal, and in particular I believe firmly that so long as they're not going out of their way to bother anyone else in the process, **People Should Get To Decide, Not Be Told, Who And What They Are, How To Be Happy, And Who They Sleep With**. Therefore, it should not be taken as any reflection of my personal philosophy that [[Avishraa:|Avishraa]] is a world that contains many prejudices - including around sex and orientation and gender identity - and all the generally unpleasant behaviors that can follow from such prejudices.+I am, generally speaking, socially liberal, and in particular I believe firmly that so long as they're not going out of their way to bother anyone else in the process, **People Should Get To Decide, Not Be Told, Who And What They Are, How To Be Happy, And Who They Sleep With**. Therefore, it should not be taken as any reflection of my personal philosophy that [[universe:mikurmiya:avishraa|Avishraa]] is a world that contains many prejudices - including around sex and orientation and gender identity - and all the generally unpleasant behaviors that can follow from such prejudices.
  
 I've said this before, but it bears repeating: Avishraa, as a whole, is not meant to be an ideal of anything, but a realistic, or at least believable, world. Certainly examples of tolerance exist, but it would not be credible, given everything else that's been established about the inhabitants, that they'd //all// be inclined to live and let live, and therefore there is no also shortage of examples in which they behave toward each other in fashions that range from "unfair" to "really damn horrible". I've said this before, but it bears repeating: Avishraa, as a whole, is not meant to be an ideal of anything, but a realistic, or at least believable, world. Certainly examples of tolerance exist, but it would not be credible, given everything else that's been established about the inhabitants, that they'd //all// be inclined to live and let live, and therefore there is no also shortage of examples in which they behave toward each other in fashions that range from "unfair" to "really damn horrible".
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 ...it may be best to start with some sociobiology. ...it may be best to start with some sociobiology.
  
-The proto-takmar - the [[species:clade:takmin|common ancestors]] of the takmar and the xtauh - first entered what is now called the [[avishraa:place:brightness|Brightness]] approximately [[history:prehistory:|74 thousand]] [[concept:timekeeping|cycles]] ago. In what might loosely be called their "natural" state - though it seems likely that they had acquired at least some aspects of sophonce by this point - individual proto-takmar each had a defined territory which they sought to defend from others of the same sex, though there was often leeway given to one's own siblings. Female territories tended to be smaller and more strictly defined, limited by the requirement to remain near a nesting site; male territories were much larger and more nebulous, and without any particular center, with the male inclined to wander around in it as his path took him.+The proto-takmar - the [[species:clade:takmin|common ancestors]] of the takmar and the xtauh - first entered what is now called the [[geography:sekhaa:region:brightness|Brightness]] approximately [[history:prehistory:|74 thousand]] [[concept:timekeeping#cycle|cycles]] ago. In what might loosely be called their "natural" state - though it seems likely that they had acquired at least some aspects of sophonce by this point - individual proto-takmar each had a defined territory which they sought to defend from others of the same sex, though there was often leeway given to one's own siblings. Female territories tended to be smaller and more strictly defined, limited by the requirement to remain near a nesting site; male territories were much larger and more nebulous, and without any particular center, with the male inclined to wander around in it as his path took him.
  
 Male territories almost always overlapped with those of a number of females, but were poorly defined enough that they also often overlapped with each other, so that female territories might, in turn, be visited by a number of different males. It was usual for a male to bring the female a present of food or goods during a visit, to gain - or maintain - her favor by helping provide for her and for those children she was caring for. From an evolutionary standpoint, this served as a signal to the female that the male could provide for offspring (despite not being greatly involved in their early childhood otherwise) and served as a possible inducement for her to choose to bear his young rather than others'. Male territories almost always overlapped with those of a number of females, but were poorly defined enough that they also often overlapped with each other, so that female territories might, in turn, be visited by a number of different males. It was usual for a male to bring the female a present of food or goods during a visit, to gain - or maintain - her favor by helping provide for her and for those children she was caring for. From an evolutionary standpoint, this served as a signal to the female that the male could provide for offspring (despite not being greatly involved in their early childhood otherwise) and served as a possible inducement for her to choose to bear his young rather than others'.
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   * Females have a lower center of gravity than males do, and are therefore more stable when standing and moving bipedally. This makes it easier for them to use their forepaws while moving.   * Females have a lower center of gravity than males do, and are therefore more stable when standing and moving bipedally. This makes it easier for them to use their forepaws while moving.
   * Females are almost universally more territorial than males are; this does not (necessarily) mean they covet what belongs to others, but they desire clarity over what is theirs and what is not, and are watchful for unsanctioned intrusions. This applies most literally to land, but extends also to any other things a female might have possessive feelings toward: moveable property, family, even insubstantial things such as job duties, rights, beliefs, and so on.   * Females are almost universally more territorial than males are; this does not (necessarily) mean they covet what belongs to others, but they desire clarity over what is theirs and what is not, and are watchful for unsanctioned intrusions. This applies most literally to land, but extends also to any other things a female might have possessive feelings toward: moveable property, family, even insubstantial things such as job duties, rights, beliefs, and so on.
-  * Females are almost universally status-conscious. A female who is ranked higher in status by her fellows will be able to exert her will more effectively over them, especially if they are directly affiliated with her (i.e., if she is "theirs" as opposed to some other group's), and they will tend to defer to her. (Among the xtauh, this is usually limited to a kind of first-among-equals deference; among takmar it extends to obeying orders and formal allegiance.) The determinants of status vary between cultures, but physical appearance, wealth, effect on males, number of children, achievements, or prowess are all common candidates.+  * Females are almost universally [[takma:social_status|status-conscious]]. A female who is ranked higher in status by her fellows will be able to exert her will more effectively over them, especially if they are directly affiliated with her (i.e., if she is "theirs" as opposed to some other group's), and they will tend to defer to her. (Among the xtauh, this is usually limited to a kind of first-among-equals deference; among takmar it extends to obeying orders and formal allegiance.) The determinants of status vary between cultures, but physical appearance, wealth, effect on males, number of children, achievements, or prowess are all common candidates.
   * Females also have a sense of their //own// status - closely related, though not the same as, self-esteem - and this has a physical representation in how dark their facial and spinal markings are; the darker the markings, the higher the status a female feels she has. A female whose opinion of herself is too much higher than the public perception of her status is likely to be viewed negatively.   * Females also have a sense of their //own// status - closely related, though not the same as, self-esteem - and this has a physical representation in how dark their facial and spinal markings are; the darker the markings, the higher the status a female feels she has. A female whose opinion of herself is too much higher than the public perception of her status is likely to be viewed negatively.
   * Females are generally polyandrous by inclination. While this does not mean that a female might not purposely stick to a single mate for reasons of her own, most who find it feasible to have more than one will do so.   * Females are generally polyandrous by inclination. While this does not mean that a female might not purposely stick to a single mate for reasons of her own, most who find it feasible to have more than one will do so.
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   * Females who have put down roots in a home are generally reluctant to travel far from it, and usually do so only for important reasons. (In most societies, the occasion of a female moving to a new home, or of a daughter leaving her mother's home, is of extreme importance.) An adult female //without// a home, or at least what she considers a likelihood of finding one, often begins to experience distress and feelings of being lost, exposed, or vulnerable.   * Females who have put down roots in a home are generally reluctant to travel far from it, and usually do so only for important reasons. (In most societies, the occasion of a female moving to a new home, or of a daughter leaving her mother's home, is of extreme importance.) An adult female //without// a home, or at least what she considers a likelihood of finding one, often begins to experience distress and feelings of being lost, exposed, or vulnerable.
   * Males are generally less status-conscious than females. On an individual level, females compete at least as much for each other as they do to attract mates; males, however, compete almost solely over mates, and in a polyandrous species do not have to compete as hard to be successful.   * Males are generally less status-conscious than females. On an individual level, females compete at least as much for each other as they do to attract mates; males, however, compete almost solely over mates, and in a polyandrous species do not have to compete as hard to be successful.
-  * Males tend to be gregarious, and to associate themselves with [[culture:organization:male-band|groups of males]] with whom they share strong, family-like bonds, though it is not at all unusual for these to include actual family members such as fathers, sons, or brothers. Whereas individual males are limited in their competition, inter-group relations usually make up a convoluted web of alliances, affinities, rivalries, and economic relationships.+  * Males tend to be gregarious, and to associate themselves with [[takma:behaviors#male_bands|groups of males]] with whom they share strong, family-like bonds, though it is not at all unusual for these to include actual family members such as fathers, sons, or brothers. Whereas individual males are limited in their competition, inter-group relations usually make up a convoluted web of alliances, affinities, rivalries, and economic relationships.
   * Males tend to come in one of two loose types. The first is migratory; the male travels around without a permanent home but usually in the company of other males, and trysts with females found along the way, though he may have favored partners that he returns to periodically. The second is sedentary: the male settles down in a particular place and is more likely to have long-term, or even formalized, relations, and to participate in family life. Most males are of the first type when younger, after leaving home, and then become the second when more mature, or when they find females willing to take them into their household; but some males remain of the first type for their whole lives, while others jump straight into the second type, with a brief or no time spent in the first.   * Males tend to come in one of two loose types. The first is migratory; the male travels around without a permanent home but usually in the company of other males, and trysts with females found along the way, though he may have favored partners that he returns to periodically. The second is sedentary: the male settles down in a particular place and is more likely to have long-term, or even formalized, relations, and to participate in family life. Most males are of the first type when younger, after leaving home, and then become the second when more mature, or when they find females willing to take them into their household; but some males remain of the first type for their whole lives, while others jump straight into the second type, with a brief or no time spent in the first.
   * Though the specifics vary from culture to culture, in almost all of them, it remains a cornerstone of any type of sexual or romantic relationship that a suitor should give something to a prospective lover to stoke interest.   * Though the specifics vary from culture to culture, in almost all of them, it remains a cornerstone of any type of sexual or romantic relationship that a suitor should give something to a prospective lover to stoke interest.
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