Jabrosky
Banned
Unlike some of the other worlds I've talked about here, I've actually managed to get some story written for this concept. Allow me to take a break from it for a moment...
This story features a culture of foragers (or hunter-gatherers) who don't organize themselves into states, tribes, or even clans. Nor do they have any formalized government or social hierarchy. Instead they live in small, egalitarian bands with fission-fusion social dynamics, which is to say they may split apart or merge together with little difficulty. While this does tend to lead to low population density in any given acre of land, at the same time the flexible social system prevents deep-seated tension from forming between bands. For the most part the different bands tolerate each other and willingly exchange goods and members together; ethnocentrism and tribalism does not exist in the culture.
Although the bands share with each other egalitarian social structures which value personal autonomy and interpersonal cooperation, beyond that their size, composition, and informal social codes vary. Bands may take on the form of nuclear families, extended families, groups of friends, religious cults, or even occupational guilds. They may consist of all men, all women, all young, all old, or have mixed sexes and ages. For example, my heroine's starting band is a cult of young women who specialize in hunting and focus their spiritual attention on one tyrannosaurian goddess. Of course, some people prefer not to live in any bands at all, instead wandering the world all alone.
Despite the aforementioned existence of one-gender bands, the culture as a whole does not enforce gender roles. Both men and women may do anything they are able to do. There is a widespread social convention which associates bows and arrows with pregnant and breastfeeding women, but then bows and arrows are commonly used by anyone who can't afford to get too close to prey. Neither sex suffers from sexual repression; although monogamous couples are common, so are polyamorous associations.
Scattered throughout the world are communal gathering places where different bands may congregate for trade, sexual intercourse, and other social activities. However, no one is obligated to visit any particular gathering place. Usually bands will visit whichever gathering place is most conveniently located for them. Some bands may roam within a certain area while others may wander the world at random. My heroine's huntress society counts among the more randomly moving bands.
Any thoughts on this?
This story features a culture of foragers (or hunter-gatherers) who don't organize themselves into states, tribes, or even clans. Nor do they have any formalized government or social hierarchy. Instead they live in small, egalitarian bands with fission-fusion social dynamics, which is to say they may split apart or merge together with little difficulty. While this does tend to lead to low population density in any given acre of land, at the same time the flexible social system prevents deep-seated tension from forming between bands. For the most part the different bands tolerate each other and willingly exchange goods and members together; ethnocentrism and tribalism does not exist in the culture.
Although the bands share with each other egalitarian social structures which value personal autonomy and interpersonal cooperation, beyond that their size, composition, and informal social codes vary. Bands may take on the form of nuclear families, extended families, groups of friends, religious cults, or even occupational guilds. They may consist of all men, all women, all young, all old, or have mixed sexes and ages. For example, my heroine's starting band is a cult of young women who specialize in hunting and focus their spiritual attention on one tyrannosaurian goddess. Of course, some people prefer not to live in any bands at all, instead wandering the world all alone.
Despite the aforementioned existence of one-gender bands, the culture as a whole does not enforce gender roles. Both men and women may do anything they are able to do. There is a widespread social convention which associates bows and arrows with pregnant and breastfeeding women, but then bows and arrows are commonly used by anyone who can't afford to get too close to prey. Neither sex suffers from sexual repression; although monogamous couples are common, so are polyamorous associations.
Scattered throughout the world are communal gathering places where different bands may congregate for trade, sexual intercourse, and other social activities. However, no one is obligated to visit any particular gathering place. Usually bands will visit whichever gathering place is most conveniently located for them. Some bands may roam within a certain area while others may wander the world at random. My heroine's huntress society counts among the more randomly moving bands.
Any thoughts on this?