Public Restrooms in Me?aic Realms...

[Cypresstwo]

The Ezičimi considered that there were not two sexes but three: men, women, and ewemi.

So... at a Xurnese lavatory, are there three separate rooms?

[zompist]

If there's segregated lavatories at all, yes.

('Xurnese' is an anachronism, though a forgivable one-- Xurno no longer follows Meshaism.)

[Yiuel Raumbesrairc]

I like that idea of ewemi. Though it fell into deep sexism, which I cannot support, it could have become something special if sexism would have stopped, leaving still the three sexes of Meshaism of Axunai.

[So Haleza Grise]

I like that idea of ewemi. Though it fell into deep sexism, which I cannot support, it could have become something special if sexism would have stopped, leaving still the three sexes of Meshaism of Axunai.

One of the interesting things such as this is that it shows that Almea isn't necessarily easily deciperable on the lines that we're used to. We tend to make assumptions, for example, that less advanced cultures than our own are more sexist. But Verduria, as well as other areas of Almea are potentially both more sexist and more enlightened then us at any given time; the prisms of view are just different.

[Jar Jar Binks]

One of the interesting things such as this is that it shows that Almea isn't necessarily easily deciperable on the lines that we're used to. We tend to make assumptions, for example, that less advanced cultures than our own are more sexist. But Verduria, as well as other areas of Almea are potentially both more sexist and more enlightened then us at any given time; the prisms of view are just different.

Try explaining this to... certain people here, not to mEddyntion any names. *sigh*

[Shm Jay]

I don?t think you can segregate holes in the ground.

[Piero]

Who are the ewemi

[Twpsyn Pentref]

Who are the ewemi

Read the pertinent article: http://www.zompist.com/meshaism.htm#three.

[Aurora Rossa]

I like how Mark Rosenfeld has recognized that gender is a social construct. He has taken this overlooked fact and made a clever satire of gender r?les. For all his flaws, I must say, he deserves my congradulation there.

[Soap]

What's the sex ratio of males to females among the ewemi? I'd be guessing there'd be more males if we had a system like that in our world, but maybe no?

[zompist]

What's the sex ratio of males to females among the ewemi? I'd be guessing there'd be more males if we had a system like that in our world, but maybe no?

It was about equal in earlier times-- a fifth of each sex-- but in the time of Axunai about a third of males were ewemi, reflecting the importance of ewemi in the power structure.

[Jar Jar Binks]

I like how Mark Rosenfeld has recognized that gender is a social construct. He has taken this overlooked fact and made a clever satire of gender r?les. For all his flaws, I must say, he deserves my congradulation there.

In the name of Porky Pig, Eddy.

Go away.

[Delthayre]

I've often imagined that a considerable number of people on this board would have been counted as Ewemi. I would certainly not be suited to the traditional role of an Ezičimi man.

The rough comparison of Ewemi to nerds (dorks, geeks, et cetera) certainly seems to fit. Modern society certainly seems to encourage them toward congealing together in insular groups. All though this seems weaker now than it may have been, or at least weaker than it's potrayed in most movies.

I like how Mark Rosenfeld has recognized that gender is a social construct. He has taken this overlooked fact and made a clever satire of gender r?les. For all his flaws, I must say, he deserves my congradulation there.

In the name of Porky Pig, Eddy.

Go away.

Jar Jar, I wish you wouldn't leap on these sorts of things so often. Both Mr. Rosenfelder and Mercator had the sense to just ignore Eddy's silly remark. I mean, really, what more can this do than just get the assinine cycle going again. It's really not helping and it tends to sometimes make your demeanor seem needlessly unpleasant.

[Raphael]

While we're at it: Mark, you said earlier that the ewemi would try everything to hide their biological gender, but since hey apparently tended to have their relationships among each other- don't you think that at least for the non-bisexual ones among them, the biological sex of their fellow ewemi did matter, no matter how much they denied it, so that they would have had some kind of informal slang terms for "biologically male ewemi" and "biologically female ewemi"?

[Brel]

I've often imagined that a considerable number of people on this board would have been counted as Ewemi.

Hah, quite right. Especially when you consider the results of that butch/femme test

Even though I haven't studied too much Almea (just a couple days ago I decided to change that and am reading slowly through the huge amounts of information Zomp has put up on the site ), the ewemi are my favorite part of it so far, perhaps because they remind me so much of myself, at least the attributes they had: nerdiness, bookishness, etc.

So, Zomp, does your answer to the original question mean they didn't usually segregate restrooms? If so, what did your average Axunai bathroom look like?

And, to add to Raphael's question, were any ewemi ever actually made sexless, either by their will or by law?

[Jar Jar Binks]

[zompist]

So, Zomp, does your answer to the original question mean they didn't usually segregate restrooms?

It means I'm not sure if public lavatories were segregated; and that's because I don't know if they were in comparable societies on earth.

And, to add to Raphael's question, were any ewemi ever actually made sexless, either by their will or by law?

Probably-- history is long, and there's room for all sorts of oddities. They would have been odd from a mainstream Axunemi point of view too.

[zompist]

While we're at it: Mark, you said earlier that the ewemi would try everything to hide their biological gender, but since hey apparently tended to have their relationships among each other- don't you think that at least for the non-bisexual ones among them, the biological sex of their fellow ewemi did matter, no matter how much they denied it, so that they would have had some kind of informal slang terms for "biologically male ewemi" and "biologically female ewemi"?

There may well be, similar to terms that we use to express particular preferences (e.g. for hair color). But I think that the question tends to presuppose a terrestrial mindset-- it's a little like asking "Wouldn't people really keep dividing the world into male and female, as I do?" And the general answer is no, they don't divide up things that way.

[Aurora Rossa]

What? I offered him a compliment. Just because you don't like the content of it doesn't make me stupid. Why aren't you attacking Mark? He's the one that made the idea based on the theory that gender is a social construct. If you object to that theory, you should take it up with him, not me.

[Yiuel Raumbesrairc]

Sex (and so, by extension, gender) can influence a lot the devellopment of a society. It is a large part of my "conculturing".

Biologically, all Taasaweans have no particular bias for sexual desire : their only "sexual goal" is to experience contact. Hence, they can have deep pleasure with anybody, as long as the contact is pleasant. They hence do not distinguish between homosexuality and heterosexuality : it is irrelevant. They will bind themselves to a male-female couple though to have children and have a family. This gave a lot of power to the women, who are those who give birth. They are the one protected, they are the one who rules the country : men are mere solciers and workers. (Notice that the diphormism is not strong for Taasaweans, and they share about the same strength. men being only slightly tougher, and women slightly more graceful.) It can appear in traditional dressing : a man's dressing is tied up everywhere where a woman's dressing is generally free of ties. Yet, because the difference aren't that strong, they do not have very strong gender categories. The ruling of women is not that strong as it seems. All this, with a natural bisexuality will help having no deep sexism.

My human conculture has about the same thing, though they have the sexual bias and make use of it more deeply (even according to our standards). And they have no sexism at all : seeing a man in a dress wouldn't be uncommon (if dresses were popular... yet, they aren't, people favoring more divided clothes)

[Jar Jar Binks]

If you object to that theory

I don't.