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Gender Roles in Mugroba

Men

Men in Mugroba have historically held official power, regardless of race. There is a physical subculture that has left men pressured to defeat rivals, judge the worth of other men (all while being expected to have no idea on how to judge women).

Across all racial divides, men are expected to marry women and have children, though wicks and imbali are far more lax about these expectation. Femininity in males is far more acceptable among wicks and even imbali than it is among galdori and humans.

Traditional roles for men include fathers, boatmen, fishermen, farmers, lawyers, politicians, judges, teachers, competitive athletes, military and militia officers, and pipefitters. Recently, men have also taken up the roles of accountants, indoor factory workers, and teachers of children (as opposed to professors of older students).

Very anti-traditional but certainly not unheard of professions include hospitality employees, sex workers, and stay at home husbands or fathers.

Women

Women in Mugrobi society, regardless of race, have historically held less official power (perhaps best considered second-in-command at best, though such a position used to be exceedingly rare). Women of all classes and races are expected and strongly pressured to marry a man and have children. They are able, at least, to make judgments on individual worth of other people, but are often pressured to nurture peace in their home and in their surroundings as well as hope for more sons than daughters.

Humans and galdori are very beholden to the belief that a woman with a house full of sons has been more blessed by Hulali himself than a woman with a household full of daughters, regardless of their beauty. Among the imbali, where children are valued, women are celebrated for theiri motherhood regardless of the gender of their legacies. Wicks are so egalitarian that this is simply not a concept to them.

Traditional roles for women include mothering, homekeeping, cottage accounting, farminig, and sex working. Newer roles as women have continued to push the boundaries of acceptance, especially led by imbali, are factory workers, judges, educators of various ages, and competitive indoor game athletes. Anti-traditional roles include travelers, traders, merchants, and outdoor competitive athletes—basically anything that puts them at the center of attention in public roles.

Onjira: The Third Gender

While the average Mugrobi thinks very little about the onjira and their roles in society, many of the other Six Kingdoms (with the exception of Hox), find this gender-concept strange and difficult to wrap their mind around. Onjira can be male-bodied, female-bodied, trans, intersex, or other, for they are legally considered "sexless" and can marry whoever they wish. Often, onjira declare themselves "married to Hulali," meaning they remain single their whole lives.

Traditionally, the onjira hold very little official power, especially in the government (they are not represented at all at present). The onjira in Mugroba currently occupy a small, well-established community in a neighborhood in Slowwater. They are known to adopt runaways and due to their collectivist nature, most onjira are middle-class and take care of their own kind, insular and protective of what they have as a group.

Traditional roles include actors, guards and bouncers, sex workers, religious workers, weavers, tailors, clothiers, and costumers. New roles the onjira find themselves seeking include bakers, candymakers, medical personnel, lawyers, and even budding politicians. Very anti-traditional roles for onjira include farming, fishing, baking (superstitions prevent them from making food for those who aren't onjira, but this is slowly changing).

Gender and Marriage

Heterosexual arranged marriages are the most common form of marriage in Mugroba, and the romantic iideal of “true love” is not considered at all necessary for a successful union, especially by the older, more traditional generations of galdori.

Heterosexual couples are expected to have children, and as stated above, sons are always favored, especially as first born. All women are valued with a dowry, paid by the groom or his family, and birth order is very important in determining both the amount and eligibility of the daughter. A first born daughter must be married first before her younger sisters, but after she has been arranged, the other sisters can be married in any order.

The imbali follow galdori tradition in most respects when it comes to marriage, though they do not require a dowry. Any financial arrangements between marrying families are made to secure business relationships instead.

Wicks are much more interested in marrying for love over arranging marriages for economic reasons, although tribal marriages are often ritualized, complex things that involve courtship and ceremony.

Homosexuality in Mugroba is acceptable among men, but undesirable and almost illegal among women. Men may marry other men, but first-born sons must first marry a woman and have children in order to take on a 'house husband,' which is a Mugrobi term for an official, legally-recognized relationship between a married man and another man brought into their household out of love. Often, these husbands are just as willing to care for children, even if they do not produce any of their own with the first man's wife.

There is an underground lesbian counter culture brewing under the surface of Mugrobi peacefulness, surprisingly rooted among galdori women.

Polygamous marriage is common among tribal wicks and very isolated human villages, often between 3-5 persons. Rarely is the polyamory between a group of only women, but it's not unheard of. A second marriage between a married (to a woman) man and another man is not considered polygamous by Mugrobi galdori because that second man is not necessarily at all interested in relations with his husband's wife.

More about Courtship & Marriage