I am not going to argue whether or not men typically tend to be stronger than women physically. What I am going to say, is that religion has always had a large role in defining gender roles in a society. Most real world religions have traditions based on texts that, at some point or another, have labeled women as not just physically weaker, but as lesser overall. They have often been regarded as property to be traded or as emotionally or mentally inferior to men and thus needing to have their decisions made for them by a father or a husband. There are often rules about how they are to be punished for disobeying like they were children, and to not be allowed to speak or participate in religious services. Much of this just reflects the cultural attitudes that existed when the texts were written, but they have persisted.
Now take into account that the dominant religious text in the parts of Thedas we have seen so far is the Chant of Light. The main hero, religious leader and role model for their religion was a WOMAN. In their churches, the positions of power are held by women, and the men serve to a lesser degree. Because the theology behind their religion is so radically different in terms of the position of a woman, there is almost a role reversal from the gender roles we see in real religions.
So, in Thedas, it is completely reasonable that, because of the attitudes instilled about the position of women by their religion, women would be given equal standing to men in military and other jobs, REGARDLESS of whether or not they are physically equal. Because it is going against the moral grain of what is pretty much the state religion to consider women inferior. Just like how, in modern society, new attitudes about the equality of women has lead to a shift in the hiring practices and assignment practices of women for physical labor, law enforcement and military service. Even if women do tend to be physically not as strong as men, the changes in attitude regarding their role seem to have more to do with what jobs they are perfoming than the base physical comparison. Imagine the same principle applied to a world where the bias hasn't existed for hundreds or thousands of years.
And sexism, for story purposes does exist in the game, among those who do not follow the Chant of Light. Sten has a very definite idea of what a woman should do, based on the Qun, and it's not fight. And even within the Chantry-controlled, there are variations by region. The story of Aveline and comments by Fergus' wife indicates that Orlais has a more restrictive view about the role of women than there is in the Free Marches and Ferelden. We've just been presented with a society whose ideals have evolved differently than our own- has nothing to do with being "realistic"- it's just the setting they gave us.
From a gameplay standpoint, more recognition of gender differences would make for a more immersive game environment, but those recognitions don't have the be the sexist comments or the "wenching" that the OP is requesting. And in terms of stat differences- no one wants the mechanical aspects of their gameplay to be affected because they are a woman, or choose to play a woman. No one should be forced to play the game as a male because they don't want the stats to screw up their character progression. Just like in every other game- to give someone an in-game advantage because they prefer to play characters of their own (or another) gender is kind of unfair. The gender choice is to help us relate MORE to the game, and to make us choose between that and optimum stats is a bad storytelling and marketing idea.
Modifié par Skithus, 07 avril 2011 - 04:22 .
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