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selenakOne of my enduring DS9 issues, faithful reader of these ramblings, is the way the show deals, or doesn't, with what it chose to inflict on Benjamin Sisko's biological mother Sarah. Unfortunately, I never did more than rant about it and to write two drabbles. So you can imagine how savagely thrilled I was upon discovering a fantastic and lengthy Sarah pov has been written:
The Price of Prophecy
That, as the kids don't say these days, because "this" annoys me for some reason. All of it. Also, I'm impressed that the author pulls off an interesting more dimensional Prophet as well while she's at it, which, given that this is Sarah's pov and given what said Prophet does to Sarah, is no mean feat. (I have no problems with screwed up superbeings. I only have a problem when the narrative demands we're to take them unquestioningly for good while ignoring the incredibly skeevy things it lets said superbeings do.)
Because I rarely can think of one of my beloved space stations without thinking of the other: one of the most intriguing prompts at queer-fest is the question what it life as a transsexual in Centauri society would be like. I am baffled and intrigued. Given that the Centauri have many centuries of space travel behind them by the time we meet them, one would assume the purely medical side won't be a problem. On the one hand, theRomans in space Centauri are evidently a patriarchy: polygamy works only in the one man, several women direction, not the other way around, Londo (provided the Emperor, i.e. a man higher in the hierarchy, gives his permission) can divorce his wives, but they can't divorce him, and so forth. Which would point to a society where to transition from female to male is impossible (not medically, but law-wise, because it radically changes your legal status), and from male to female a social taboo because again, you change social status radically, only higher to lower. Given how status obsessed most of Centauri society comes across, this makes it likely that such operations would happen, but illegaly and probably off planet.
On the other hand: the Centauri goddess of desire is depicted with female and male attributes. Also,andraste has a fascinating theory (unfortunately I can't find the relevant post to link) relating to the fact that all Centauri seers we meet are female, and that while their-own-death visions are established as common to Centauri of either gender, anything else gets you into seer territory. Except that Londo has some (truthful) visions far beyond his own death during the show (the Shadows flying over Centauri Prime, Sheridan in Londo's s5 dreaming through all of Sheridan's life stages - Earth officer, rebel, President of the Alliance, Ranger, Vorlonesque light being). Then there's also the fact that Londo has no children by any of his wives, despite, as the head of a noble family, having a vested interest in producing them, and it doesn't seem to occur to him to blame his wives for this. So andraste's theory was, if I recall correctly, that some male Centauri, like Londo, are born with the "wrong" set of chromosons (leading to a larger precognitive ability but also sterility) but that this is hushed up because of the gender hieararchy on Centauri Prime. Presumably this is true for female Centauri in reverse as well.
Independent from this, because drag and transsexuality aren't interchangable, but it's still relevant in as much as it touches gender status: the s5 episode with the court lady whom Londo asks for her clothes establishes that dressing up as a member of the opposite gender is seen as something you do for kicks among the nobility, excentric but not unheard of (unsurprisingly since he's a Caligula clone, we learn Cartagia has done it now and then). The two examples given - Cartagia's actual going in drag, and Londo's presumed (since he needs the clothes for N'atoth) going - are male-disguising-as-female, which fits with Cartagia affecting a shorter hair cut despite the fact this traditionally signals lower status as something "decadent" (as he puts it) to shock society with at the start of s4. I.e. the thrill is in dressing up as someone lower status in a society that's all about reaching higher status - somewhat like the Roman Saturnalia. Of course, had someone actually treated Cartagia as either a servant or a woman, that person probably was added to the head collection.
My guess is that if a Centauri transsexual was born female and identified as a male, (s)he would have had, depending on social status and income, either bribe a doctor or get off world to get an operation there, then establish a completely new identity. If a Centauri transsexual was born male and identified as female, they probably would have it easier to find a doctor and treatment but would risk getting cut off from their family in shame. Exceptions in both cases: if the transsexual individual in question displayed extraordinary seer gifts, because seers seem to be both treasured and of extremely high status, which presumably would give them more leeway.
The Price of Prophecy
That, as the kids don't say these days, because "this" annoys me for some reason. All of it. Also, I'm impressed that the author pulls off an interesting more dimensional Prophet as well while she's at it, which, given that this is Sarah's pov and given what said Prophet does to Sarah, is no mean feat. (I have no problems with screwed up superbeings. I only have a problem when the narrative demands we're to take them unquestioningly for good while ignoring the incredibly skeevy things it lets said superbeings do.)
Because I rarely can think of one of my beloved space stations without thinking of the other: one of the most intriguing prompts at queer-fest is the question what it life as a transsexual in Centauri society would be like. I am baffled and intrigued. Given that the Centauri have many centuries of space travel behind them by the time we meet them, one would assume the purely medical side won't be a problem. On the one hand, the
On the other hand: the Centauri goddess of desire is depicted with female and male attributes. Also,
andraste has a fascinating theory (unfortunately I can't find the relevant post to link) relating to the fact that all Centauri seers we meet are female, and that while their-own-death visions are established as common to Centauri of either gender, anything else gets you into seer territory. Except that Londo has some (truthful) visions far beyond his own death during the show (the Shadows flying over Centauri Prime, Sheridan in Londo's s5 dreaming through all of Sheridan's life stages - Earth officer, rebel, President of the Alliance, Ranger, Vorlonesque light being). Then there's also the fact that Londo has no children by any of his wives, despite, as the head of a noble family, having a vested interest in producing them, and it doesn't seem to occur to him to blame his wives for this. So andraste's theory was, if I recall correctly, that some male Centauri, like Londo, are born with the "wrong" set of chromosons (leading to a larger precognitive ability but also sterility) but that this is hushed up because of the gender hieararchy on Centauri Prime. Presumably this is true for female Centauri in reverse as well. Independent from this, because drag and transsexuality aren't interchangable, but it's still relevant in as much as it touches gender status: the s5 episode with the court lady whom Londo asks for her clothes establishes that dressing up as a member of the opposite gender is seen as something you do for kicks among the nobility, excentric but not unheard of (unsurprisingly since he's a Caligula clone, we learn Cartagia has done it now and then). The two examples given - Cartagia's actual going in drag, and Londo's presumed (since he needs the clothes for N'atoth) going - are male-disguising-as-female, which fits with Cartagia affecting a shorter hair cut despite the fact this traditionally signals lower status as something "decadent" (as he puts it) to shock society with at the start of s4. I.e. the thrill is in dressing up as someone lower status in a society that's all about reaching higher status - somewhat like the Roman Saturnalia. Of course, had someone actually treated Cartagia as either a servant or a woman, that person probably was added to the head collection.
My guess is that if a Centauri transsexual was born female and identified as a male, (s)he would have had, depending on social status and income, either bribe a doctor or get off world to get an operation there, then establish a completely new identity. If a Centauri transsexual was born male and identified as female, they probably would have it easier to find a doctor and treatment but would risk getting cut off from their family in shame. Exceptions in both cases: if the transsexual individual in question displayed extraordinary seer gifts, because seers seem to be both treasured and of extremely high status, which presumably would give them more leeway.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-11 01:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-03-11 01:54 pm (UTC)The prevalence of such chromosome disorders might be even higher in Centauri if females were the ones with the sex-determining chromosomes, as in birds and reptiles. So a Centauri with two Z chromosomes would normally be male, and one with a Z and a W would be female. But one with three sex chromosomes - ZZW - could easily be male for all intents and purposes, but infertile and able to see the future.
... and now I have stayed up past my bedtime holding forth about the genetics of imaginary species. Ah, fandom *g*.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-11 02:01 pm (UTC)And do you agree re: likely fate of Centauri transsexuals?
no subject
Date: 2012-03-11 09:31 pm (UTC)And then too, there's the question of whether the upper classes and the lower classes have the same issues with gender status. A Centauri of Londo's station might be able to switch genders and disappear into the lower classes, but never be out about the circumstances.
no subject
Date: 2012-03-12 07:12 am (UTC)