| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Horatio
Seeker
Israel
59 Posts |
 Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 15:20:41
|
Hi!
I'm looking for information regarding the position of women in Faerūn. It's obviously not the same as it was in medieval times, but I'm looking to have a deeper insight about it.. can't any of the sages, or anyone familiar with that knowledge, provide me with the information, please?
Would be very appreciated,
-Horatio
|
|
|
KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 15:30:09
|
| Oddly enough, when the words "women" and "position" are mentioned within the halls of Candlekeep, THO immediately springs to mind. |
 |
|
|
Beirnadri Magranth
Senior Scribe
USA
720 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 15:37:46
|
hahaha what a provacative topic subject!
i think women have a more respected position here than in medieval times. This is because d&d 3.0 & 3.5 has taken the stance that sexism in the campaign setting is unattractive and should be discouraged. This is evident in FR with the amount of female rulers and heroes and npc's of note. |
"You came here to be a martyr in a great big bang of glory... instead you will die with a whimper."
::moussaoui tries to interrupt::
"You will never get a chance to speak again and that's an appropriate ending."
-Judge Brinkema |
|
|
|
Horatio
Seeker
Israel
59 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 16:01:47
|
Thanks for the feedback!
Well, heh, it is interesting to me since I play a lot of female characters, particularly warriors. I'd like to know if there are a lot of female fighters in Faerūn's history? or are they majorly bards/mages?
See, when I trace back medieval history - and maybe it's because of my scarce knowledge in history - I can only think of "Joan of Arc" when it comes to female warriors, whether she was a mentally-disturbed nutbag or a hero. |
Edited by - Horatio on 20 Feb 2006 16:08:08 |
|
|
|
Kentinal
Great Reader
4694 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 16:17:59
|
Different societies have different customs, however in general there is full equality between males and females.
Some religions are female dominated if not totally female for example.
They can aspire to become anything they wish, including Queen, Archmage, etc. In some societies and cultures they though also might be slaves with little rights in male dominated societies, of course some female dominated societies males are little better then slaves.
About the only simalarity between medieval times and FR is most likely is that femalesgive birth and tend to spend more time raising their children then the fathers do. |
"Small beings can have small wisdom," the dragon said. "And small wise beings are better than small fools. Listen: Wisdom is caring for afterwards."
"Caring for afterwards ...? Ker repeated this without understanding.
"After action, afterwards," the dragon said. "Choose the afterwards first, then the action. Fools choose action first."
"Judgement" copyright 2003 by Elizabeth Moon |
|
|
|
Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36910 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 17:05:17
|
| At least in the Heartlands, there is little sexism. Cormyr has at least a couple of female Lords (Tessaril Winter and Myrmeen Lhal) and is currently ruled by a female Regent, at least a couple of Waterdeep's Hidden Lords are women, Rashemen is ruled by the Witches, and the nation of Aglarond is ruled by a woman... For the Heartlands, there is a lot more of a "best person for the job" attitude than a "best man for the job" attitude. There's still a lot of men in leadership positions, but it's not as from much overt sexism as was known in the real world. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 20 Feb 2006 17:06:20 |
|
|
|
Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 17:08:19
|
Shrug,
FR has always had woman in power long before 3e. Ed designed the setting that way and there's hundreds of woman that have power, depending on how you want to define power and or position. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
|
|
|
Feanor
Learned Scribe
100 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 17:11:07
|
quote:
Originally posted by Horatio
Thanks for the feedback!
Well, heh, it is interesting to me since I play a lot of female characters, particularly warriors. I'd like to know if there are a lot of female fighters in Faerūn's history? or are they majorly bards/mages?
See, when I trace back medieval history - and maybe it's because of my scarce knowledge in history - I can only think of "Joan of Arc" when it comes to female warriors, whether she was a mentally-disturbed nutbag or a hero.
FR is a feminist world.  |
|
|
|
Horatio
Seeker
Israel
59 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 17:16:14
|
Haha.
Well thanks for the input everyone, certainly helped me to understand better |
|
|
|
Winterfox
Senior Scribe
895 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 17:47:41
|
FR's a very airbrushed version of medieval times, really, so you can't compare. If it were like the middle ages, why, half the peasants would die well before they reach fifty, and there'd be excrement littering every street.
The fact that magic's so common in the setting probably helps: the infant mortality rate is much lower (yay, clerics' healing magic), so there's less pressure on women to churn out little brats and stay barefoot in the kitchen. And if you're a woman who's not inclined toward the martial, there's always the options of priesthood of some sort or arcane magic. |
|
|
|
Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 17:53:27
|
| The Realms looks superficially medieval (and European), but only via the genre of sword and sorcery: it isn't a recreation (however torqued) of medieval Europe and only resembles it in specific, limited ways. |
|
|
|
Winterfox
Senior Scribe
895 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 18:30:47
|
quote:
Originally posted by Faraer
The Realms looks superficially medieval (and European), but only via the genre of sword and sorcery: it isn't a recreation (however torqued) of medieval Europe and only resembles it in specific, limited ways.
I amend: certain parts of the Realms are an airbrushed version of medieval Europe. Sembia, for instance, comes across as more Renaissance-era, and of course, there're all those not-European at all places like Calimshan, &c, &c. |
|
|
|
Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 19:02:05
|
| Back to the old Earth-analogues discussion! I see how they might look that way, but nowhere in the core Realms is a version, airbrushed or not, of anywhere on Earth, because for every point of resemblance there are several of departure. That's just how Ed designed the place, to stop readers and players complacently thinking they knew details they had yet to truly explore. Ed didn't start with a historical recreation and change it to his liking, he started, as I understand it, with a heavily literarily derived emotional environment and filled it out with detail -- some of it derived directly or indirectly from our past world -- to suit. |
|
|
|
Arivia
Great Reader
Canada
2965 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2006 : 20:05:28
|
quote:
Originally posted by Winterfox
FR's a very airbrushed version of medieval times, really, so you can't compare. If it were like the middle ages, why, half the peasants would die well before they reach fifty, and there'd be excrement littering every street.
The fact that magic's so common in the setting probably helps: the infant mortality rate is much lower (yay, clerics' healing magic), so there's less pressure on women to churn out little brats and stay barefoot in the kitchen. And if you're a woman who's not inclined toward the martial, there's always the options of priesthood of some sort or arcane magic.
I think you're correct; I often see a great dichotomy in Realms novels and other D&D fiction where the adventuring party/main characters/whatever are freed from gender boundaries, while the commoners/non-adventuring folk are presented in near-stereotypical gender-based roles. For every Myrmeen Lhal, there's a Lucia Thione ---it just goes to show how hard it is to separate our own views from those of the worlds we create. |
|
|
|
The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2006 : 01:21:30
|
quote:
Originally posted by Kuje
Shrug,
FR has always had woman in power long before 3e. Ed designed the setting that way and there's hundreds of woman that have power, depending on how you want to define power and or position.
Indeed. A quick run-down through your FR NPC file makes this more than apparent, especially in 1e/2e.
|
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
|
|
|
The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2006 : 01:27:00
|
Agreed. The Realms I adventure in (with Ed as the DM) is far different from the Holloywood-medieval-with-patriarchal-attitude Realms I see in some Realms novels by other writers. Elaine Cunningham seems to "think Realms" very much as Ed does, but some writers come at it from widely different POVs.
Faraer is right (as usual): the "real" Realms is NOT a thinly-disguised view of our medieval real world. Ed did indeed come at it "from the other end," so to speak.
Males and females are equals in Ed's Realms, except in specific cities and local cultures where laws and customs of inheritance and tribal behaviour have things otherwise.
And as for MY position, to answer the comments made off the top of this thread: any position I want, of course. 
love,
THO |
|
|
|
Dargoth
Great Reader
Australia
4607 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2006 : 01:38:12
|
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Males and females are equals in Ed's Realms, except in specific cities and local cultures where laws and customs of inheritance and tribal behaviour have things otherwise.
With the exception of the Drow of cause (where shoes on the other foot)
I just finished reading Sons of Thunder and got the impression the Uthgart barbarians believed a emlaes place was in the home (in their case the tent)
I remember in the novel Finders Bane the Male Banelich looked down on the female cleric of Bane and in the end even said she was unworthy to be Banes High Priest because she was female |
I am the King of Rome, and above grammar
Emperor Sigismund
"Its good to be the King!"
Mel Brooks |
|
|
|
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2006 : 01:48:03
|
I recall Salvatore's novels said something to that effect, too--woman in the Uthgart(sp?) culture generally take care of home and hearth.
I have created a wandering, battle-loving female barbarian though. :) |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
|
|
|
The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 21 Feb 2006 : 01:53:07
|
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
And as for MY position, to answer the comments made off the top of this thread: any position I want, of course.
Oh, my Lady... such information .
Regardless, I knew it was either going to be Wooly or yourself who seized upon the title of this scroll  .
|
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
|
|
|
Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1564 Posts |
Posted - 22 Feb 2006 : 00:40:32
|
quote:
Originally posted by Winterfox
If it were like the middle ages, why, half the peasants would die well before they reach fifty, and there'd be excrement littering every street.
There isn't excrement littering every street?  
Ah, forgot about the dungsweepers
quote:
The fact that magic's so common in the setting probably helps: the infant mortality rate is much lower (yay, clerics' healing magic), so there's less pressure on women to churn out little brats and stay barefoot in the kitchen. And if you're a woman who's not inclined toward the martial, there's always the options of priesthood of some sort or arcane magic.
Yes, magic is common, and priestly help available - but only to those who can afford them (and very few do). So, I think that equal rights for both sexes has nothing to do with divine magic
Otherwise, I agree with the posts here - most of the Realms offer equal opportunities (and rights) to both sexes. I like it that way, too (then again, my girlfriend would beat me to death, if I didn't ). Wooly said it well: there is a lot more of a "best person for the job" attitude than a "best man for the job" attitude.
As for Women in Power - the Seven Sisters? |
"What am I doing today? Ask me tomorrow - I can be sure of giving you the right answer then."
-- Askarran of Selgaunt, Master Sage, speaking to a curious merchant, Year of the Helm |
|
|
|
Iliana N-letur
Acolyte
Netherlands
13 Posts |
Posted - 03 Aug 2007 : 12:50:48
|
quote:
Originally posted by Horatio
Hi!
I'm looking for information regarding the position of women in Faerūn. It's obviously not the same as it was in medieval times, but I'm looking to have a deeper insight about it.. can't any of the sages, or anyone familiar with that knowledge, provide me with the information, please?
Would be very appreciated,
-Horatio
Thing is, in (European) medieval times women did have a fairly good position. Perhaps not totally equal to men, but clearly not subservient. They owned property, often ran the household (did the finances), etcetera. It was only during the Renaissance that position of the females worsened and it was the description of the ages before, written then, which portraited women as lesser.
History is funny that way. |
A small (4'9") moon elf, with odd pale golden hair and startling violet eyes. See her for the first time, there's fair bit of Faerie 'fascinate' involved.
A slightly curved sword and pseudo dragon familiar are never far away. |
|
|
|
Lady Kazandra
Senior Scribe
Australia
921 Posts |
Posted - 07 Aug 2007 : 17:05:19
|
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
Oddly enough, when the words "women" and "position" are mentioned within the halls of Candlekeep, THO immediately springs to mind.
Perhaps not so strangely, I had the same thought. |
"Once upon a time the plural of 'wizard' was 'war'." -- The Last Continent, by Terry Pratchett |
|
|
|
Delzounblood
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
578 Posts |
Posted - 07 Aug 2007 : 22:27:53
|
I've always looked at it this way, as this very question has been raised in my own rp group.
The Axe blade will slash or kill you, The wielder could be Male or Female or Other!, the only thing that matters is WHY!!!!
You respect anyone when your the wrong end of a sword, regardless of sex......
Though knowing some of the scribes in the keep, Thats just how they like it!
I don't judge
Much
Delz
|
|
|
|
Sian
Senior Scribe
Denmark
596 Posts |
Posted - 08 Aug 2007 : 00:38:43
|
| well ... i know dwarves have complete Gender equallity ... though i've yet to see a novel where one of the importent characters are a female dwarf |
what happened to the queen? she's much more hysterical than usual
She's a women, it happens once a month |
|
|
|
scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 08 Aug 2007 : 01:37:16
|
| my games always show equality in sexes |
|
|
|
Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36910 Posts |
Posted - 08 Aug 2007 : 02:18:31
|
quote:
Originally posted by Sian
well ... i know dwarves have complete Gender equallity ... though i've yet to see a novel where one of the importent characters are a female dwarf
Have you not read Elfsong, where one of Danilo's companions is a female dwarf called Morgala the Mirthful? |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
|
|
|
Sian
Senior Scribe
Denmark
596 Posts |
Posted - 08 Aug 2007 : 09:33:45
|
| didn't say that i've read many novels *grins* |
what happened to the queen? she's much more hysterical than usual
She's a women, it happens once a month |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Women position in Faerūn
