Where do babies come from?

[Shreddies]

I mean in FOLKLORE. Like, being delivered by storks, etc.

I'm looking for interesting ideas for the reproduction of a single-gender (non-gender?) race. And I wanted to avoid parthenogenesis and/or coupling with humans (or other beings).

Anyways, does anyone have a good source of information for baby folklore? Their symbolism, origins, etc.

 

[Svrtnsse]

This is totally not folklore, but it may still be a source of inspiration. The Asari people in the Mass Effect setting are a monogendered race. They can mate with others of the same race (which is somewhat frowned upon), or with members of other races (which is encouraged). More details can be found here: Asari - Mass Effect Wiki - Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3, walkthroughs and more.

 

[CupofJoe]

Tweaking a Native American creation story... The gods place ears of Corn [Maize] between two buckskins and then let the wind breath life in to them... What was born was living but neither male nor female [the genitals and pubic hair were added later...]but like the gods - alive, thinking, feeling.

 

[arbiter117]

I've read some random Greek (or from somewhere) myth stories of people being born when the character threw rocks over their shoulder or sowed dragon teeth in the ground.

 

[Penpilot]

Same place ideas come from, Poughkeepsie. ;D

 

[Jabrosky]

If you mean something like the stork myth, keep in mind it reflects our specific culture's prejudice that sex and childbirth are too "gross" or inappropriate for children to know about. No, I don't get it either. As has been asked countless times before me, why do we have this idea that sexuality and reproduction are less family-friendly than even violence? It's not like kids are going to run out and sleep around before hitting puberty once you tell them the facts.

I imagine a culture which didn't have such a weird hangup with sexuality wouldn't bother making up a special myth for kids.

 

[Shreddies]

I've read some random Greek (or from somewhere) myth stories of people being born when the character threw rocks over their shoulder or sowed dragon teeth in the ground.

Ooo! I forgot dragon teeth! I think they're from the Argonauts, I'll have to look those up.

I guess I should rephrase and broaden my query.

So. Does anyone know of any interesting stories regarding the creation or birth of individuals or children? Like being delivered by the storks I mentioned, or Kaguya-hime found in the stalk of a glowing bamboo (Tale of the Bamboo Cutter), or Momotaro appearing from a giant peach that was found floating down the river. Or even Pygmalion and Galatea, or . . . heck, even Pinocchio. (Though, I think the theme of Galatea and Pinocchio overlap since they're works of art that were brought to life)

Stories regarding the creation of races are fine too, as long as they're interesting.

On a side note, does anyone have any information about finding babies in cabbage fields or under a gooseberry bushes? I can't seem to find much regarding those, aside from offhand mentions.

 

[arbiter117]

There's Aphrodite's origin of appearing out of sea foam (or appearing when Cronus cut of Uranus' genitals and threw them in the ocean).

An old, once scientific, belief was that each sperm held a miniature baby inside of it and women just grew the baby. That was when microscopes were very new and wasn't likely told to kids.

There's the story of the Gingerbread man and going with that: the children's rhyme that says girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice.

Once when I was 10, a kid brought a mercury thermometer to school and several kids played with it and it broke. The news spread rapidly through the school that those girls were gonna get pregnant because they touched mercury (and our teacher had to explain to us that it was not true, but the psychological damage to those girls was pretty severe for at least a day).

 

[Trick]

It's not like kids are going to run out and sleep around before hitting puberty once you tell them the facts.

Except that they will right after puberty has done enough to make them capable. Teen pregnancy has skyrocketed since sex education was introduced in public schools. Anyone who thinks they're unrelated is kidding themselves. Kids are dumb, even the smart ones. Most adults can't maturely handle sex, kids are simply not ready to deal with sex. Some knowledge, yes, but not all of the details. It should be taught in pieces, as the brain develops. My three year old has asked where babies come from multiple times. If you think you can explain sex to him in a way that does not frighten, disgust or even just confuse him, feel free to try. All you will here is, "why? why? why?" and if you have to say that it feels good, he'll become obsessed with it and never stop asking adults about it. Who wants the kid that does that?

Hence, the stork brings them or they come from the hospital. It's not a hangup that creates these stories. I'm guessing you don't have kids. Many parents know, kids are curious in the same way cats are. Too much information at a young age is just as bad or worse than too little.

As to the OP, I've always liked the concept of seedling babies. Perhaps the non-gendered race can emit these seeds and grow them like a plant. Or, when one member of the race dies and is buried, the next generation sprouts from the grave. A little morose but I still like it anyway.

 

[Queshire]

For a moment I misread seedling babies as stealing babies which reminded me of stories of fairies stealing babies and leaving Changelings in their place. With a bit of thought your guys could play the role of either the fairies or the parents I suppose. Oh! That also reminds me of that one bird that lays their eggs in the nests of other birds so that the other birds have to raise their kids.

 

[Jabrosky]

Teen pregnancy has skyrocketed since sex education was introduced in public schools.

At the risk of a politically sensitive derail, I believe you've been misinformed on that specific point.
Abstinence-Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates: Why We Need Comprehensive Sex Education in the U.S

The United States ranks first among developed nations in rates of both teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. In an effort to reduce these rates, the U.S. government has funded abstinence-only sex education programs for more than a decade. However, a public controversy remains over whether this investment has been successful and whether these programs should be continued. Using the most recent national data (2005) from all U.S. states with information on sex education laws or policies (N = 48), we show that increasing emphasis on abstinence education is positively correlated with teenage pregnancy and birth rates. This trend remains significant after accounting for socioeconomic status, teen educational attainment, ethnic composition of the teen population, and availability of Medicaid waivers for family planning services in each state. These data show clearly that abstinence-only education as a state policy is ineffective in preventing teenage pregnancy and may actually be contributing to the high teenage pregnancy rates in the U.S. In alignment with the new evidence-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative and the Precaution Adoption Process Model advocated by the National Institutes of Health, we propose the integration of comprehensive sex and STD education into the biology curriculum in middle and high school science classes and a parallel social studies curriculum that addresses risk-aversion behaviors and planning for the future.

 

[Devor]

At the risk of a politically sensitive derail, I believe you've been misinformed on that specific point.
Abstinence-Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates: Why We Need Comprehensive Sex Education in the U.S

He didn't say anything about abstinence-only education. Or if anything, that would be a form of the sex education he was criticizing.

 

[Jabrosky]

He didn't say anything about abstinence-only education. Or if anything, that would be a form of the sex education he was criticizing.

Then how about this?
National Data Shows Comprehensive Sex Education Better at Reducing Teen Pregnancy than Abstinence-Only Programs

Young people who received comprehensive sex education were significantly less likely to report a teen pregnancy compared to those who received no sex education.

Abstinence-only programs were not significantly associated with a risk reduction for teen pregnancy when compared with no sex education.

In comparing abstinence-only programs with comprehensive sex education, comprehensive sex education was associated with a 50% lower risk of teen pregnancy.

fter adjusting for demographics, abstinence-only programs were not significantly associated with a delay in the initiation of vaginal intercourse.

Comprehensive sex education was marginally associated with reduced reports of vaginal intercourse.

Neither abstinence-only programs nor comprehensive sex education were significantly associated with risk for an STD when compared to no sex education.

 

[Devor]

These issues are more complex and have more history to them than any static moment would suggest. At the current moment sexual education may have a positive impact in reducing certain risks, but that doesn't speak to the historical ways in which sexual education - along with several related matters - have broadly changed our culture over the past decades, with possibly tremendous consequences.

I'm not sure why you need try to prove something, or would even want to, over an offhanded remark. But regardless, Jabrosky, I'm fairly sure that sex-education programs are a matter of public policy and politics, which are off limits.

 

[Jabrosky]

Honestly I wouldn't have even bothered with the derail if I didn't perceive Trick as spreading inaccurate information (presumably without knowing how accurate it really was). Would post deletion be in order to get us back on topic?

 

[Devor]

Would post deletion be in order to get us back on topic?

I don't think that's necessary.

 

[Trick]

I apologize for starting a (very small) row. If I could edit my previous post I would change the word 'pregnancy' to the words 'sexual activity.' I would also correct the misuse of 'here' by making it 'hear' but that's just the grammar freak in me.

Anyhow, I had another idea for the OP. Oddly enough, I got it from a popular kids show. What if there was a source for all members of the unisex race? A mystical spring, a mountain, a particular huge tree or anything that would work as your world is currently designed... New members of the race, be they babies or a bit more developed than that word implies, could come from a singular source. The race would live around this source and protect it with vehemence.