Yes.
In a recent thread about the Qunari, some people objected to the assertion that the Qunari are patriarchal. Happened a few other times before that, too. Sure, the vast majority of Qunari (and vashoth) we've seen have been men, but that's because they're the warriors, which are male. The Qunari are actually led by a three-person executive council consisting of one man, one woman, and one of either who have absolute authority over their particular branch of government/society. Men and women have different, complementary roles in Qunari society, but you can't call it patriarchal because women assume some of the highest positions of leadership. I'm not sure I agree. I would say that there's a very good chance the Qunari are a patriarchal society not dissimilar to the many patriarchal societies that exist and continue to exist pretty much... everywhere in the real world.
We haven't met many Qunari women in the games (just Tallis?). Much of the information we have comes from maybe a few codex entries (most of which I have never read), World of Thedas, and this thread. (much of the information in that thread shows up in World of Thedas) So far, the information has mostly been presented as how the Qunari see their society, or perhaps how they might justify themselves to outsiders. Not necessarily how it actually is.
Here's what WoT has to say about the Triumvirate:
Arigena: Head of the worker Qunari. She is responsible for nurturing Qunari and maintaining health in the community.
Women are head of hearth and home. What an alien societal configuration the Qunari have already.
Ariqun: Head of the Qunari priesthood. He or she is responsible for ensuring the Qun is taught and pushing the progress of science.
Fair enough. Both men and women are the Ben-Hassrath (which falls under the Ariqun's purview), who police and spy for the Qunari. Seems a necessity for there to be a degree of gender parity here, but I'll give them this anyway.
Arishok: Head of the Qunari military. He is responsible for the protection and safety of society, as well as its expansion. The military is also responsible for dealing with foreigners, making the Arishok the nominal head of state. Because of this, outsiders may mistake him for a king.
Ah, yes. "Mistake."
If there was an all-out war of the sexes in Par Vollen, who would win? The Arigena and her sisters would control the awesome power of a medieval command economy for approximately as long as it took for the Arishok and his army to immediately overtake them with their formidable military prowess and might. The Qunari are an aggressive, expansionist society and the men seem to do the aggressing and expanding.
The female misogynist Seer of Kont-aar weights in on page 84 of World of Thedas:
The Qunari view their whole society as a single creature: a living entity whose health and well-being is the responsibility of all. Each individual is only a tiny part of the whole, a drop of blood in its veins. Important not for itself, but for what it is to the whole creature. Because of this, the Qunari most outsiders meet belong to the army, which the Qun reguaards as if it were the physical body: arms, legs, eyes and ears, the things a creature needs in order to interact with the world. One cannot get to know a person solely by studying his hand or his foot, so one cannot truly 'meet' the Qunari until one has visited their cities. That is where their mind and soul dwell.
Sister, please. That is obfuscatory nonsense. "Ignore what your senses are telling you. Trust me, I'm deep and complex and there's more to me than meets the eye. I care about women, for sure, totally." Don't qunsplain to me about what I need to know about the Qunari! I know enough.
Anyway, even then, let's talk about this. Without your soul, you're a sociopath or tranquil or whatever; I don't know. Without your mind, you're comatose. Without your body? You're nothing. You don't exist. (the Qunari are godless, after all. do they believe in an afterlife?) Men win. Your body contains your mind and your soul. The reverse isn't otherwise true. (or is it.)(no!)
Here's David Gaider in the old thread, responding to someone:
Maybe I am making incorrect assunptions but that would give the Tamassrans an incredible amount of influence. They choose the pairings, handle the upbring and education, and determine the roles of the next generation.
They might not see it the same way, but yes-- the Tamassrans wield a huge amount of influence. It's also a female gender role (as all administrative tasks are) which might lead an outsider to conclude that female qunari rule their society.
Yes, an outsider might conclude this. This outsider might also conclude that the wizarding world in Harry Potter is a sortinghatriarchy and that the role of women as teachers and guardians of children in many societies means that they're the top dogs, as well. I would disagree with this outsider. Men still have more power than women/hats in many societies today where women are teachers and primary caregivers and hats are career aptitude hats.
Anyway, I definitely don't think there's enough evidence to say that the Qunari aren't patriarchal. They seem pretty patriarchal to me! The Qunari have a militaristic, expansionist empire. Men control the military and much of the secret police. Seems like they have one-up on the women. But I'm the worst and have awful opinions. I've always like Mass Effect 3's ending, for example.
Further questions:
Do you think female Qunari leaders are all "cool girls" who are undermining Qunari feminism? Alternately, do you think Anne Helen is kind of projecting an awful lot onto Jennifer Lawrence in that essay.
I've heard it said that the Qun is like Confucianism. I don't actually know anything about Islam, communism, feminism, or Confucianism. Anyway, are the Qunari totally a Thedosian analogue for Confucianists? In what ways. Elaborate.
Why did we only see male Saarebas last game? Do Saarebas only have same-gender Arvaarads? Are male Saarebas thought to be more, less, or equally capable/dangerous as women? Why didn't Bioware just develop one female model for all the Saarebas we would see? Have they failed feminism again.
Do u think a Marxist-Leninist-Koslunist vanguard party is necessary to lead the proletariat in revolution and establish communism.
Is the greatest weapon the Qunari have in the struggle against Tevinter the internal contradictions of capital accumulation.
Do you think the fex were matriarchal before being assimilated into the Qunari? Will we ever meet one? What do you think female fex look like?
World of Thedas calls the pre-Qunari Qunari kossith. Are we allowed to do this, at least when referring to them before the Qun, or is that still considered kind of annoying, confusing, and pretentious?
Both men and women can become the Ariqun. Do they become so at equal rates? Have there been more male or female Ariquns, and how long have reigns of each lasted? Do men and women have different responsibilities and roles when they assume this position?
Does the Arigena promote performance art, or just performance crafts?
Do you think we will ever meet a Tal-Vashoth woman who bristles at the collectivist nature of the Broviet Qunion and writes long AF novels espousing her highly individualistic philosophy? Will her newly chosen individual name be Aynraand.
Please feel free to ask and answer your own questions about the Qunari and patriarchy in this thread.
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