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Gender

Gender inequality is pervasive in Bastia, although relatively worse among humans than galdori.

Galdori and Gender Roles

There is a heavy emphasis on education for both male and female galdori, and the educational opportunities for women are no worse than those for men, as women are just as capable of becoming sorcerers as men. However, although few avenues are closed to women, there are still differences in expectations; women are more likely to become healers or scientists rather than combat-oriented sorcerers. Similarly, the highest regarded academics are nearly always male; Anastou has yet to have a female headmistress, and the vast majority of the Council of Anastou is male.

In the secular world, divisions persist as well. Bastia’s most famous artists, writers and composers are almost exclusively male, although the handful of females that have succeeded are widely held up as examples of how equal society is. Similarly, high-fashion tailoring is almost exclusively a male domain. The Bastian Armed Forces have only recently started to accept female galdori, and the first contingent of female airship pilots was formed only in 2714.

There are also differences between the sexes in the sorts of personality traits which are considered desirable. Certain personality traits (kindness, patience, cheerfulness, optimism, generosity, obedience) are valued more highly among women, while others (ambition, strength of character, decision-making, pragmatism, business acumen, independence) are more prized among men.

Clothing, too, is heavily gendered, and galdori men and women are held to strict standards of birth-gendered presentation. Dressing outside of these norms would make a galdor the object of pity and scorn.

Gender and the Lower Races

Among humans, gender roles are considerably stricter. Home-based tasks are considered the domain of women, whereas work outside the home is considered the domain of men. This extends even into servants’ work. Human women, not men, become laundresses, seamstresses, cleaners, and so on, and most human men would feel that the taking of such work makes them unmanly. Men, on the other hand, tend to be engaged in more physical occupations, such as serving as guards undertaking manual labor (such as building trades), and tend to be the primary farmers of a family. Human shopkeepers are also disproportionately male. Women may take men’s work out of pure economic necessity (despite the judgment they would face from society for doing so), but men would be highly unlikely to take on women’s work even in the most dire circumstances.

Human men and women are also expected to dress in accordance with their birth-gender, although there is somewhat less differentiation (as humans can often afford less in the way of clothing). All the same, it is unusual for humans not to make an effort to present their masculinity/femininity in accordance with their assignment at birth. For women, dressing in more masculine clothing can be considered acceptable out of pure necessity, although as with work, they would face heavy judgment; for men, it is outright dangerous, and a man might face physical violence for doing so.

Many of these rules are relaxed when it comes to wicks; there is some differentiation of roles within tribes for nomadic wicks, but many “professions” are considered suitable for both genders. There is a heavy value placed on expression, and as such a wick would not be judged harshly for dressing as they please. Note that city-dwelling wicks, however, are more likely to align themselves with human standards (given that they tend to live in close proximity to humans).

Sexuality and Monogamy

Heterosexuality and homosexuality are both considered utterly normal state of affairs by Bastian galdori, both males and females, with no particular stigma attached to either. Bisexuality is also relatively common and openly accepted among Bastian galdori. Bastians with such proclivities are known as Amante di Hurte, as various myths link Hurte with both male and female lovers.

Among humans, city-dwellers tend to be more open towards homosexuality, and homosexual human couples can live openly or even marry (although there may be those who disapproval). In the countryside, however, such behavior is heavily stigmatized stigmas, and heterosexual arrangements predominate.

Wicks are as open (if not more so) than Bastian galdori, with no ethical prohibitions against homosexuality or any other form of sexual desire or expression.

Monogamy is far and away the most common arrangement among Bastian galdori, although there are several famous artist communes in Tiv where galdori so-inclined can find more relaxed arrangements. In practice, as well, it is not impossible for open marriages or other arrangements to be sanctioned by marriage contracts, although there are usually careful stipulations regarding what to be done with children, should they arise (which are usually not terribly kind to the children in question). Humans in Bastia are strictly monogamous, with other arrangements strictly secret if they exist. Wicks in Bastia have no such restrictions.

Birth Control and Abortion

Birth control is available in several forms, though the human public is largely ignorant of this fact. Wicks make use of a tonic made from stopsage to control the ovulation cycle. Galdori, meanwhile, have very precise spells to prevent pregnancy. In Bastia, it is common for women learn to use them in their teens from their mother or another female relative - although men (and especially husbands) are not always aware of these spells.

Abortion is similarly available to galdori, but for social reasons it is rarely used unless the mother's life is endangered.

For wicks and humans, only very dangerous methods of abortion are available, usually self-administered. There is a poison made from clippitch blossoms that can induce a miscarriage, but at substantial risk to the mother. In desperation, some women turn to back-alley doctors to procure emergency abortions. Despite this, economic realities force the hand of many human women, and abortion (and abortion-related death) is common.

Sexual Stigma and Prostitution

Bastian galdori do not necessarily expect one another to bring virginity to the marriage bed, although women in particular are unlikely to have had many partners prior to marriage and courting a galdor woman for a long time without proposing marriage reflects poorly (on both parties, although disproportionately on the woman, who is generally considered to have been lacking). It is, however, considered in bad faith for the bride to be pregnant prior to the actual wedding, regardless of whom the father is; the burden is generally considered to fall on women to prevent this from happening (or to convince their husband it has not). It is not at all uncommon for one or both partners to take lovers outside of the marriage, although it is generally expected that they will be relatively discrete about it. It is rare but not excessively so for such behavior to be explicitly sanctioned by the marriage contract.

Among Bastian humans, sex prior to marriage is common, and having a child outside of wedlock is mildly shameful but not too serious an offense against social mores. Among wicks, neither is at all stigmatized.

Prostitution, strictly, is not commonplace among galdori (in the sense that galdori rarely work as prostitutes). However, Bastia has a flourishing culture of galdori courtesans, both male and female, who often call themselves Usignolo (nightingales). These individuals are often talented artists or performers who entertain one man or woman at a time outside the bounds of matrimony. Such services are paid for with gifts (rent, jewelry, clothing) but never directly with coin.

Prostitution is rampant among human society, and prostitutes are paid visits by men (and some women) in all walks of life. To be a prostitute once is to be considered one for life, and it is a dangerous profession; they are very likely to contract sexual diseases, and stand a good chance of being physically abused or even murdered.