Gender and Sexuality
Broadly speaking, the world of the Globe is a patriarchal one, however the exact views on sex and gender differ between cultures. Sex and sexuality are also viewed quite differently in certain areas.
However, this idea is further complicated in areas such as Beourjen City where slighen groups are in close proximity and integration with traditional Beourjen culture, as well as the fact that these slighen groups in the confederacy are often male-dominated and the majority of individuals are employed in the military alongside common men. Up until Fjornin Balassar took over as the military's High Commander severe measures were taken to ensure the ostracization of slighen within the army, but in the last few decades since Balassar has begun overseeing the military both common and slighen military cultures have integrated considerably. Thus, the effects have been two-fold; the slighen poulations, especially within South Beourjen, have become slightly more heteronormative and the younger common population has become slightly less so.
Many sexual proclivities are criminalized through the Inheritance Laws, which prohibits not only acts of unclean beahviors but also 'recognized intent' towards them. Because of the nature of the laws regarding inheritance and reproduction, these criminalizations are enforced much more heavily on the social groups actually able to reproduce, and so the middle and upper classes of society are recieving not only social pressures, but also legal pressures, to conform to traditional gender and sexuality norms.
Although the orvon have fiercely rejected the reservations' construct of gender and sex as an expression of power dynamic, the heteronormativity has still stayed within the culture at Brickard. There's not necessarily any prejudice against homosexuality, or any other sexualities, but it is considered rare.
The Beourjen Confederacy
The irony, of course, is that the Inheritance Laws thus afford the lower classes more sexual and romantic freedom than the aristocracy. If one does not have the "noble privilege" of carrying on their family line, then their nightly proclivities are not as closely assessed, and there are less repurcussions for such unclean behaviors. A nobleman may be tried for gross indecency at the stake of his House's standing, but the court is apt to turn a blind eye at the perversions of a slighen so long as he serves our military faithfully.
The Inheritance and Reproduction Laws
The mechanisms of gender and sexuality within the confederacy are somewhat molded by the Inheritance and Reproduction Laws. Both reproduction and the inheritance of wealth between individuals is considered a privilege of the middle and upper classes. There are a number of individual laws that comprise the collection that is singularly referred to as 'the Inheritance Laws,' however the main idea to note is that while the laws enforce sterilization on a number of lower-class groups: slighen, Fort Brickard soldiers, immigrants, criminals. The laws also institute heavy restricts on marriage and dependency for many of these groups, as well as providing additional benefits for the middle and upper-class citizens who aren't sterilized and are willing to reproduce.Slighen Subculture
Gender and sexuality among the Beourjen slighen population is particularly distinct from the rest of society, due in part to the groups' relations with eachother as well as traditional Cravven slighen ideas of sex and sexuality. With the initial integration of slighen into Beourjen society in the fourteenth century was a carrying of their social and sexual norms; traditional slighen culture exhibits a much more fluid idea of sexuality and normalizes sexual relations and attraction among all genders.However, this idea is further complicated in areas such as Beourjen City where slighen groups are in close proximity and integration with traditional Beourjen culture, as well as the fact that these slighen groups in the confederacy are often male-dominated and the majority of individuals are employed in the military alongside common men. Up until Fjornin Balassar took over as the military's High Commander severe measures were taken to ensure the ostracization of slighen within the army, but in the last few decades since Balassar has begun overseeing the military both common and slighen military cultures have integrated considerably. Thus, the effects have been two-fold; the slighen poulations, especially within South Beourjen, have become slightly more heteronormative and the younger common population has become slightly less so.
The Upper Classes
As reproduction and the continuation of bloodline is considered a large responsibility and privilege, gender and sexual freedom are fairly repressed within the Beourjen middle and upper classes. Literature and media imply clear roles for both gender and family, and the wealthier houses of nobility often put a lot of pressure on their heir apparent/s to marry and start families soon after they enter into society.Many sexual proclivities are criminalized through the Inheritance Laws, which prohibits not only acts of unclean beahviors but also 'recognized intent' towards them. Because of the nature of the laws regarding inheritance and reproduction, these criminalizations are enforced much more heavily on the social groups actually able to reproduce, and so the middle and upper classes of society are recieving not only social pressures, but also legal pressures, to conform to traditional gender and sexuality norms.
Fort Brickard & The Lottery
Considering the orvon at Fort Brickard are all male and have come from the heavily patriarchal culture of the reservations, the somewhat disparate views of the soldiers at Fort Brickard are interesting. Although it is still obviously patriarchal, many common women from the Academie and other academic institutions have commented that they're better respected and prefer working with the men at Brickard than other male professionals. Their marriages are also generally happier over time despite the forced nature of the Lottery, and because there's no childbearing or raising involved, the traditional 'gender spheres' seen in the rest of Beourjen society aren't as prevelant.Although the orvon have fiercely rejected the reservations' construct of gender and sex as an expression of power dynamic, the heteronormativity has still stayed within the culture at Brickard. There's not necessarily any prejudice against homosexuality, or any other sexualities, but it is considered rare.
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