Dragon Age The Veilguard Criticism Thread (formerly Skepticism Thread) [Spoilers]

Way to go to push the modern message about the benefits of multi-culturism.     Forget the gender controversy, this one takes the biscuit for imposing real world ideology on a fantasy setting where it doesn't belong.    It even beats Cassandra asking why my Lavellan can't be flexible enough over gods to include the Maker in their pantheon and then in JoH it turns out that is exactly what Ameridan did.

Okay, what I find odd about all this is that Krem had a reason to not  to want to be female, which actually was rather similar to Dorian and his sexuality, that within Tevinter society Krem was expected to marry and improve the family fortunes that way and Krem didn't want to so to get out of that expectation, joined the army as a man but then was found out and having lied on the application to join, that was what landed Krem in hot water, so had to flee Tevinter. That is actually how Krem explained it to me.

Now to be honest I hadn't thought in terms of "what gender are you" when I first met Krem because I was used to the fact that women in Thedas can be soldiers and the only thing that really threw me was the fact they had used a male body model for Krem but I honestly didn't clock the fact that it was a female VA. Me being slow on the uptake as usual.  Then I was surprised that one of the prompts was "why do you pass?" and the penny dropped.     Out of curiosity I followed those prompts just to see what would be said on the matter but normally wouldn't have bothered.    Then Bull went into the whole business about how in the Qun if the female seems more inclined towards masculine activities, the Tamassrans apparently recommend they live as a male, so the gender stereotypes within the Qun are maintained.   I did find it slighly bemusing that the Qun would be so flexible about this when they seemed so rigid on everything else but it wasn't a big deal lore wise.    Sten was the one in DAO who seemed to have a problem getting his head around females doing what he had been taught were male roles in society but no one else did, just as no one seem to have a problem with your sexual orientation.   It was rather refreshing that you could leave all those real world problems behind when you were in Thedas.   Then in DAI they started to become an issue.

So where Taash has me confused is this whole non binary aspect and I find it hard to understand where the gender dysphoria arises within Thedas that leads to someone not seeing themselves as either male or female.    Given how outside the Qun there do seem to be no gender stereotypes in Thedas society, except when it comes to the nobility fulfilling their family obligations to continue their line, there didn't really seem to be the environment for it to arise.     

Also, I agree with you.   It is really annoying to be given a female Qunari as a companion who doesn't want to be female.   Plus it really feeds into gender stereotypes that the big, tough female doesn't see herself as female.    That was what was so great about Cassandra.  She was a tough, capable warrior but also not afraid to be feminine when not upholding her role as a Seeker.

I would say, for me, there's a difference between sex dysphoria, as in you feel your actual body is the wrong sex.
And gender dysphoria, you feel you don't fit your "gender" role.

Sex dysphoria I have great sympathy for.
Gender dysphoria ? Who feels like they are the pinacle of masculine or femine?
I do not understand it because struggling with gender role; what is feminine/masculine do you fit the bill? is an experience I think a lot of folks have. Then you grow up and realise it doesn't matter.

I can understand gender dysphoria in the Qun. As your sex at birth define your gender role in a fairly firm way minus some exception. Cf Sten "women can't fight, they are baker etc.."

But overall Thedas like you wrote doesn't have so much of that. Minus the chantry.

So what are we supposed to say to Taash if say they're struggling with being a female at birth who enjoys fighting and the Qun is weird about it?
I mean beyond the Qun is a bit fucked, you're not the issue?

Either way off topic, but I don't understand the current gender debate whatsoever.
I got into weird circular argument with folks over the year, that just left me frustrated and I still didn't get it.

But whatever I'm not here to punch down, or mock people.