Ramastaarn: a fantasy culture with strange gender-role specialisation

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by jason taylor

This is also a good time for ritual matings, whether marriage, or as you are positing an avuncular culture, more collectivistic in concept. That is often used as sympathetic magic.

Since the sea has a male genius and the land a female one, an obvious festival would be a proxy marriage between the Queen of the Land and (with apologies to Mr Topley) The Prince of the Deep Water...

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Since the sea has a male genius and the land a female one, an obvious festival would be a proxy marriage between the Queen of the Land and (with apologies to Mr Topley) The Prince of the Deep Water...

Uh-huh. Do they have the concept of marriage as such, say from contact with cultures that practice it? Not that it matters as the basic idea is close enough for this purpose.

[combatmedic]

It looks very cool to me, Brett.

Good job.

[lwcamp]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

Having little need for warm clothing Ramastaarni don't wear much and often go quite naked in pursuits that would threaten to damage clothing. Besides a unisex loincloth that may be worn like a short pareo, the fundamental feminine garment is a necklace or collar, which may be extended into a shoulder-cape or even a sort of poncho. Examples such as the formal dress of matriarchs, ceremonial vestments, and wealthy women's party wear are often brilliantly decorated with beadwork, embroidery, shells, and even jewels. The fundamental masculine garment is a waist-cord, which may be extended into a belt or girdle and even to an apron. The basic form is of knotted palm-fibre, and even this may be quite elaborate before acquiring ornaments of shell and jewels, or having trophies such as monsters' teeth and claws tied to them. Prestige men's girdles may be made of beadwork or pearls, or consist of linked plaques of e.g. mother-of pearl. Belt-plaques of imported enamel and cloisonné work, gold, silver, or bronze are highly prized; given as gifts to lovers they also find their way into women's collars. As far as Ramastaarn's feeble nudity taboo goes, a woman is nude (or dressed as a man) without something around her neck, while a man is nude (or dressed as a woman) without something around his waist or hips.

I imagine that many women would wear a garment for support of their brests, especially the more active ones, or those who are no longer the slender waifs they were when they were young. This is for comfort, not necessarily modesty.

Luke

[Bengt]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

Having little need for warm clothing Ramastaarni don't wear much and often go quite naked in pursuits that would threaten to damage clothing.

But then the pursuits threaten to damage themselves instead. So it would make more sense to be mostly naked during leisure time and wear protective clothing for said pursuits.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Bengt

But then the pursuits threaten to damage themselves instead. So it would make more sense to be mostly naked during leisure time and wear protective clothing for said pursuits.

Mud and dust wash off, and the human integument is largely immune to damage by seawater.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by lwcamp

I imagine that many women would wear a garment for support of their brests, especially the more active ones, or those who are no longer the slender waifs they were when they were young. This is for comfort, not necessarily modesty.

Very possibly, but on the other hand there is a plethora of anthropological examples of women going bare-breasted.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Bengt

But then the pursuits threaten to damage themselves instead. So it would make more sense to be mostly naked during leisure time and wear protective clothing for said pursuits.

Originally Posted by Agemegos

Mud and dust wash off, and the human integument is largely immune to damage by seawater.

Originally Posted by Agemegos

Very possibly, but on the other hand there is a plethora of anthropological examples of women going bare-breasted.

I would guess it depends what you are doing - anything that involves a lot of running about or other upper body motion is likely to make being well secured a lot more comfortable for most women - as, I would guess, would be anything involving the potential for hot, sharp or itchy debris.
Also, anyone working with livestock, tending any kind of spiky crop or generally moving about in scrub will probably want clothing ... mind you, a lot of jungle cultures wander about in the buff and pretty much everything in the jungle stings, bites and/or has spikes on it. But then any clothes you wear there are liable to rot off in a couple of minutes as well...

[Agemegos]

The climate is tropical, about like Fiji or Vanuatu. Archetypal women's work involves cultivating taro and sweet potato with a wooden spade. Archetypal men's work involves handling nets and fishing lines in an outrigger canoe.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

The climate is tropical, about like Fiji or Vanuatu. Archetypal women's work involves cultivating taro and sweet potato with a wooden spade. Archetypal men's work involves handling nets and fishing lines in an outrigger canoe.

... I would guess both of those could be done topless, assuming adequate protection from sunburn.
The maritime stuff might actually benefit from less clothing ... come to think of it, don't fish usually surface into shade? You might actually be able to improve your fishing by roofing over the outrigger (or building a cat with a roof or platform) and then fishing from the shaded section of water, whilst sitting in the shade yourself...