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I think it's more interesting (if controversial) for a game to explore what gender means and apply a gender fluid lens, than just say "gender doesn't matter in this world". This is very much a world where gender matters. It kind of reminds me of Dune in that the women have all the magic powers.
Is it just the fact that men aren't included?
Genuinely curious!
honestly again I might just be reading too much into it but that sort of worldbuilding just kinda rubs me the wrong way I guess? I'm a trans guy so I'm viewing it through that lens. it's less that "men aren't included", because I understand this game is likely very focused on women, but more "if men can't see or use magic, what does that mean for trans men, trans women, and nonbinary people? does it only refer to cis men or are trans men unable to use magic?" it also feels a little gender role-ey
probably nothing, but I was just wondering considering the fact the game says it gets into things like gender dysphoria.
I'm not involved with the game development, so this is just my interpretation of the game's universe. I think that whether or not you can become a witch depends on your biological sex, not your gender. Maybe having a Y chromosome cancels out the potential.
Sex-based genes are not "gender role-ey." If a gene/trait/etc. is specifically tied to Y chromosomes, then XX females will not have it, but XY and XYY males, XXY females, and intersex people will have it.
My impression is that, in this game universe, access to witchcraft is like a genetic trait solely found in biological female genes -- or that biological male genes cancel out the potential.
It seems more like a world where biological sex matters. Sex and gender are not the same thing. One is biology (static), and the other is identity (fluid). They're both very important in shaping each individual human, but they aren't interchangeable.
It's important to note that character traits are not bound to chromosomes. Any trait can exist in any chromosomal configuration. Personality is not sex-based. However, human society is historically lazy and incapable of nuance, so we like to sort traits into quick-and-easy "buckets" - e.g., cooking is feminine, sports are masculine. That's where we get our societal gender roles and stereotypes.
10/10 would bake again.
The ability to ascend to witchhood is linked to a sliding scale toward femininity. In the game, it is stated literally that women, trans women, and nonbinary folk can all become witches. Anyone who is specifically stated to be a "man" can not become a witch. So this will include cis men, trans men, and (I suspect, given the rules of this universe, but not specifically stated in the game) nonbinary folks that lean heavily on the masc side of the scale who can not become witches.
Now I'm left wondering if the game-universe relies on a two-point sliding scale concept of gender, and if so what happens with folks whose genderfeels fall outside/beyond being a fixed point on such a line (like agender folk or genderfluid folk), or who align with an somewhat less conventional variant of 'femininity' (such as being a butch lesbian), or who are questioning, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if these cases aren't explicitly accounted for within the narrative. It'd be wildly cool if they were, though.
The way I read Fortuna's dialogue there was "I know your gender better than you do, and that you never saw yourself as a woman or even have thought much about gender identity while you were still a human is irrelevant to the matter." I understand that ascending necessitates a female gender in this universe, but either Fortuna's analogy between ascension and gender transition comes from a place of understanding yet ignoring that one does not just make so sudden realizations about their own gender identity, or it does not come from a place of understanding, i.e. she has no idea whether these two things are similar in the first place..
I think the rest of the game - as far as I played so far - treats gender-related topics pretty well, so this one specific section felt jarring and out of place to me. Dwelling on it, I think it might be just happening too suddenly, and that they haven't talked for long enough for Fortunate to make definitive statements like that. I'd rather have the other witch come to that realization herself, and just maybe for the realization to take that more than one single meeting.
Can anyone tell me what makes them feel differently from me about this? I'd be happy to get another perspective on this scene and hopefully someone has a more positive reading on it.