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Gender in Knódtser and Related Cultural Implications
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An explanation of both animate and inanimate genders
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 7 Nov 2017, 18:54.

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Menu 1. The Basics 2. Aerial 3. Aqueous 4. Terrene 5. Gender for Children 6. Taboos, the Lack Thereof, and the Cultural Significance of Both 7. Stereotypes 8. Noun Genders 9. Animal Genders 10. The End
[edit] [top]The Basics

Gender in Knódtser is a finicky thing, and intricately intertwined with religion. Essentially, there are three genders: aerial, aqueous, and terrene. Verbs are conjugated according not only to tense but also to the gender of the subject, so an awareness of gender is crucial to communication.

Speakers of this language originate from an island chain. Resources and land are limited, so efficiency is highly valued in the culture. The division of labor is key to surviving in such an isolated location. As such, one's role in society is seen as a primary characteristic. Genders in this culture are thus not associated with sex, but rather with one's role. These are divided into three options:

  1. a gender for roles that require physical strength, such as constructing shelter (aerial)
  2. a gender for roles that surround the means of food production, which traditionally require dexterity and memory due to the culture's strong inclination towards fishing and gathering (aqueous)
  3. a gender for roles which are not easily classified or for performing some of the roles of the first category and some from the second (terrene)


[edit] [top]Aerial

The first option is the aerial gender. It was traditionally associated with the male sex, but the culture now considers speaking of a person's physical sex to be extremely crude, so the association is no longer relevant. Members of this gender are expected to be capable of the strength required to perform such tasks as building and maintaining a home and protecting a family. Thus, an aerial member of a couple is most likely to be the individual who stays home and looks after the affairs therein. The ideal aerial individual is one who is tall, strong, and possesses the reasoning and caring to use their strength for the good of those around them.

These ideals are reflected in the vision of the aerial deity, Pededúr. He (an aside: he/him pronouns are the easiest way to translate the aerial concept to English) is expressed in art as having either the chest of a male or, more frequently, a chest that is bound to conceal any characteristics associated with sex, thus conveying the deity's transcendence from the restrictions of mortal and physical limits. As one would expect, he rules over the air and sky, controlling the forces of the wind and sun. Sacrifices are made to him to bless homes and aerial vehicles, ask for warm weather or favorable winds, provide both physical or emotional strength in times of need, and for general advice or help.

[edit] [top]Aqueous

The second option is the aqueous gender. This gender was once associated with the female sex, though no longer retains this association for reasons explained in the previous section. Members of this gender have historically played a food-providing role, identifying edible plants by sight, touch, and smell; hunting and fishing; and sometimes creating artwork. In a couple, this individual is more likely to be the provider. The most prized characteristics for aqueous individuals include dexterity, keen sense perception and observational skills, a holistic knowledge of the world around them, and quick decision-making skills.

The aqueous deity, Knured, is likewise considered the wisest among the gods, and thus the entity prayed to in order to ask for knowledge. This can be either fact-related or emotional, as in a situation where the devotee seeks to understand their own needs and wants or those of others. Also of note is her ability to foresee the future. Because she (This gender uses feminine pronouns in translations to English) controls the element of water, she is also prayed to to bless watercraft, grant safe travel over oceans and rivers, and to ask for good fishing. As with the other deities though, there are no strict rules regarding when it is appropriate to pray to the aqueous one.

In terms of appearance, Knured is typically depicted wearing a dress or robe of flowing water that conceals any sexual features, but always shown with long, jet-black hair and blue eyes. In legends, these eyes are sometimes said to change color to reflect her mood: a brilliant azure when she is calm, or a stormy gray when she is angry. The traditional fashion among members of the Aqueous gender is to grow out their hair in imitation of this deity, but the hair is usually braided for practical reasons. Younger members of the gender tend to do away with this style altogether, keeping their hair quite short.

[edit] [top]Terrene

The last category (but not at all the least) is terrene. This gender can stand on its own, with members who prefer to play a more varied role in society (perhaps alternating between tasks or performing those that require a balance of skills), but it has other grammatical uses as well. The most important is that its plural forms ("we", "you all", and "they all") can be used for groups of people where the gender is not consistent. Because the gender itself is slightly less common that the other two, this use is the most frequent place it comes up. It is also used to refer to all children under the age of 15. (The significance of this age will be explained more thoroughly in the next section.)

The terrene deity, however, has a much more definite role. Tsihet controls the element of earth, thus playing a significant role in daily life. All hunting, animal farming, gathering, and plant farming is under their domain, as well as the trees used to build houses, reeds used to make mats, stones or metals for tools and jewelry, and innumerable other small offerings of the land. The pious often pray to them (neutral English pronouns) to ask permission before consuming or using any of these things and again afterwards to thank the deity. While each god is traditionally held to be equally important, there can be no doubt that the terrene receives the most offerings and prayers. In art and story, this is occasionally reflected by a crown of vines upon their head. Other notable characteristics include skin that is sometimes bright green, bare feet, and plain brown eyes.

[edit] [top]Gender for Children

On the day of their fifteenth birthday, all children are expected to publicly and formally choose a gender. This is monumentally important (and somewhat controversial in radical circles) because with this decision they essentially commit to a life-long role in society. However, the decision is not considered to be difficult to make; it is instead seen as a natural expression of the interests and talents a child has been developing since the beginning of their formal education (which starts at age five). In this way, the Gendering Ceremony is less of a decision and more of a public realization of Self.

Before the advent of an organized government, children learned the necessary skills to survive and benefit the other members of their family simply by being alongside them. There is nothing radical about this; they key thing is that, on an island chain with limited resources, the effective division of labor was absolutely essential. Sometimes, this meant that individuals of different sexes performed the same tasks with the same level of success, while other individuals lacked those abilities. The Knódtser gender system evolved to express the idea that a person's most primary characteristic was not their genitals, but instead their particular brand of usefulness to society. It was only natural, therefore, that children—too weak to be truly aerial and too clumsy to be truly aqueous—would fall into the third group. However, this manner of identification was and continues to be a mere placeholder for their final, adult gender identity.

When the islands united and formed a shared government, this culture of efficiency prioritized the means for government to increase efficiency in any way possible, and when it came to creating efficient workers, a standardized education system was the immediate solution. Its entire purpose is to expose children to as many expressions of gender as possible and thus produce adults with a both a well-rounded understanding of how their society functions and a certainty of their own role in it. Thus, while curriculum can vary dramatically according to the specialties of a particular island, all children gain first-hand experience in the roles that keep their community running. Subjects that are present nearly everywhere, however, include botany and agricultural sciences, marine ecology, and a very practical brand of math that focuses on engineering and navigation (which is key in this seafaring culture). The popularity of other subjects, including language, art, history, and religion, have varied over time. In phases when the culture values efficiency over holistic understanding they have been cut out of education completely; during other times, they have held equal standing to their more popular counterparts. Currently, children are instructed in these areas, but not without controversy.

After ten years of this formal education, children are expected to have a general idea of their talents and interests. The Gendering Ceremony will thus take place in their last year of primary education. The Ceremony itself can be large or small according to the child's desires; some have Ceremonies with only family members, some invite friends, and rare affairs can include the entire population of a town or even island. (These extravagant Ceremonies are reserved for the children of rich or important figures in society.) They can be held at home or at another venue. The key elements are these:
  1. A religious figure or pious family member oversees the proceedings.
  2. At least one adult of each gender is present.
  3. After all the guests have arrived, they assemble in a semicircle. In the center stands the child and the religious figure.
  4. The religious figure asks the child to state their name and confirm that this is indeed their fifteenth birthday, then asks if the child knows their gender and is sure of it.
  5. The child responds, saying "I am [X gender] and I am certain of it." This part of the ceremony is crucial, for it is the first time the child refers to themself in their correct, adult gender.
  6. The religious figure then asks, "And what may we call you henceforth?" This is another significant moment, because it is this first time another individual refers to the child by their correct gender (in their conjugation of "you").
  7. The new adult responds with their new name.
  8. The religious figure says "May [X deity of child's gender] know this and offer [his/her/their] wisdom through the mouthpiece of those assembled."
  9. Any guests of that gender may speak up at this time and offer whatever advice they see fit. It is traditional that at least one piece of advice be offered.
  10. After each piece of advice has been offered, the child thanks the guest as if they were talking to the deity themself: "I thank you, [X deity] for your advice."
  11. To conclude the ceremony, the religious figure presents the child with a small token to represent their gender: sometimes a small piece of symbolic jewelry or a vial containing the gender's element. They clasp the child's hands around the token and say "May you never forget who you are."


After the Gendering Ceremony is complete, guests usually stay to celebrate with food, music, and recitations of poetry. Excessive reference to the celebrated individual by their new pronouns (if they changed) are a common occurrence as the guests learn to address them differently. The individual becomes a legal adult immediately after the official part of the Ceremony, allowed to vote and partake of intoxicating substances. It is also the traditional age for an individual to be eligible for romantic relationships; they may now legally consent to sexual activities and seek marriage. However, these young adults are strongly encouraged to put those activities on hold while they finish their education. They will now partake in a secondary education, another five years of school that focuses almost exclusively on the potential roles of the individual's gender.

[edit] [top]Taboos, the Lack Thereof, and the Cultural Significance of Both

As mentioned earlier in the article, the physical sex of humans is a taboo topic that is discussed only in very private situations. Because domestic animals, especially livestock, are described by their sex for breeding purposes, to describe a human by their sex is to reduce them to the level of an animal that's good for little more than reproduction. It is the height of Knódtsern obscenity; even foul-mouthed people tend to use other terms.

With this taboo in place, it would be impossible to make the claim that people of the same sex should be forbidden from having relationships with each other, for someone who did would perceived as having a scandalous fixation on the sex of others. Likewise, because sex has no bearing on gender, it would be impossible to state that members of the same gender should not have relationships with each other. In short, homophobia is impossible to justify in this culture, and even difficult to fathom.

Another benefit of the lack of association between sex and gender is that there is no stigma surrounding those whose sex at birth does not match their gender; there is no true "match" in the modern culture. Thus transphobia would be equally nonsensical.

Agender individuals have the option of terrene, allowing them to fill whatever role of society they choose, but the rules of grammar dictate that they must have some form of gender, which can cause problems for those whose gender identity rebels against that.

Gender fluid people still face the issue of being mis-gendered, but potentially with more frequency because gender appears everywhere in speech. This can be partially remedied by a particular facet of Knódtsern etiquette, however: When two people meet for the first time, they must ask the question, "What pronouns may I use?" because it would be impossible to politely continue this introductory conversation otherwise. (The question deliberately avoids using any phrasing that would require the other person's gender, because to use the wrong one would be a sign of great rudeness.) This custom could be extended to those close to the individual, perhaps politely inquiring about their current gender every so often.

Though I could never hope to address all of the potential cultural implications of the gender system, hopefully this sampling will give some indication of its effects.

[edit] [top]Stereotypes

While this gender system manages to prevent the culture that uses it from a handful of rude notions, there are still plenty of stereotypes to go around.

Members of the aerial gender, who provide manual labor, are sometimes seen as thoughtless, clumsy brutes. The aqueous gender, on the other hand, is sometimes said to include people who are clever to a fault: schemers and conspirators, people who shouldn't be trusted.

The stereotypes surrounding the terrene gender, however, are arguably the most damaging of all. Because they chose to give themselves the freedom to choose any role in society, they are sometimes perceived to be indecisive or even unreliable. Also, because they chose to retain the pronouns of their childhood, they are sometimes seen as immature. The worst insult, however, is when an individual uses the terrene gender to refer to someone of one of the other genders to treat them like a child. There are three layers of cruelty here: they are mis-gendering an individual, belittling them, and turning a perfectly legitimate gender and facet of grammar into an insult.

These stereotypes are by no means common or accepted, but they do persist, in the quiet way cruelty does.

[edit] [top]Noun Genders

In Knódtser, nouns have the exact same genders as people do. Verbs are conjugated the same way regardless of whether the subject is an aqueous person or an aqueous object, and adjectives decline the same way as well. However, there are different pronouns for people and objects, and when an inanimate object is the subject of a sentence, either the pronoun or the noun itself must stand before the verb; the subject cannot be dropped.

Nouns are sorted into genders in a more or less reasonable way; the categories correspond loosely to the names if the genders themselves. The aerial nouns are those that can be percieved, but not touched: all gases, all sounds (including the words for the names of letters, numbers, and parts of speech), and all smells. The aqueous category is made up of "things that flow" in this culture's understanding: all liquids, and all the words for periods of time. Finally, terrene nouns include all solids and all abstract concepts. This is the catch-all category; if it isn't aqueous or aerial, it goes here. It is by far the largest category.

[edit] [top]Animal Genders

While of far less importance than some of the other things discussed in this article, the language's unique way of gendering animals is worth mentioning. Because animals are living things, the rules surrounding gender assignment mimic those used for humans, and they use the exact same set of pronouns and verb conjugations. As a quick reminder, the original associations between the genders and their role in society are these: Aerial individuals construct and care for the home, aqueous individuals provide nourishment, and terrene ones do both or neither. Therefore, animals are assigned gender according to what the speaker had recently seen that animal doing.

For example, let's say there are two people were standing on the edge of the forest, having a conversation. One looks up and sees a monkey in a tree that's picking and eating fruit. If he wanted to tell his friend to look up at the monkey, he would say, "Look at that monkey!" The word he used for "monkey" would end with "-d", because that is the ending for aqueous nouns. Therefore, the friend would know before she even looked up that she would see a monkey doing something having to do with food. If there had been more monkeys in the trees, then she would know which one to look for. Even if the monkey stopped eating fruit, but the conversation about it continued, the monkey would still be referred to as aqueous for the sake of consistency.

Of course, in the case of a pet, gender assignment is a bit more personal. The animal's physical sex is far less taboo than a human's, but for a creature that (we'll assume) this person has developed an emotional attachment to, it would still be a bit crude to refer to it. Therefore, a gender is assigned to the pet based on their perceived "personality." It's an arbitrary decision, but a respectful one.

A note: Though the word for "cat" or "dog" or "monkey" may change gender based on the behavior of the animal it refers to, there would never be any confusion about a cat of the aqueous gender being some sort of liquid cat. There is no situation where the root associated with "cat" would mean anything other than "cat", unlike roots such as the one for "water". Animate beings occupy a very different section of language than inanimate ones in the minds of speakers, even though they share certain characteristics in the way the words are spoken.

[edit] [top]The End

Wow, did you read this whole thing? That's really cool if you did. :)

Here's your prize: an official flowchart that will identify your gender in Knódtser for you! How neat is that?! Bask in its heavenly glow!

JK. But if you'd like to try it out, go for it. Bonus points for people who message me and tell me what they got!

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Comments
[link] [quote] [move] [edit] [del] 31-Jan-17 15:04 [Deactivated User]
The idea of linking gender to favourite activities and to a self is very interesting, and quite enlightening.
I took the test. It gave me Aqueous as a result, and after having read your article, I can say I am not surprised of this result, I think it fits ^^
[link] [quote] [move] [edit] [del] 20-Jan-17 16:40 [Deactivated User]
Interesting, Jute also has genders associated with social roles, rather than biology! But your system seems much more developed than mine, heh.
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