Actually, that a lot of female Seeker Miqo'te turn to prostitution and/or otherwise making a living off of their bodies isn't terribly unusual, if you consider the Seeker lore.
It's implied Miqo'te are tribal. Seekers are part of patriarchal tribes, for the most part, and it's the strongest male that gets selected for breeding, which does tend to mean females are inferior in their hierarchy - it implies that they consider the male to be more important to the child being desirable than the female. Basically, the females in terms of breeding are vessels for the Nunh's strong offspring.
Most of the Miqo'te NPCs we see out there are females. And we see them away from their tribes, integrated into other races' worlds - they are, essentially, foreigners. They leave their tribes with likely nothing to their name other than whatever skills they possess. If they're good fighters, cool, they can end up as soldiers, or pirates, or mercenaries (we see quite a few of those). You could get lucky and land a job as a clerk or a tour guide, like we see in Limsa. Or you could get unlucky and not land a job. And then you might turn to prostitution. You know where else that happens? Real life.
Sure, much of it may be fanservice - but it's fanservice that actually seems to fit with the lore, imo. Plus, to a female Seeker, the idea of sex with a stranger may not be as taboo as it would be to us. They do have to bear their Nunh's offspring, and I doubt every single female who's ever bred with a Nunh was attracted to him. It's a duty, probably mostly mechanical and impersonal... like prostitution tends to be.
Regarding the FATE, I don't think it's degrading so much as... well, pretending to be submissive and completely into your client is a thing that prostitutes do? Female ones especially, unless the client specifically has tastes for being dominated. It's part of the performance. And the client being a Roegadyn isn't terribly unusual either - it's not as though clients only ever seek prostitutes of their same race.
To me it's not terribly unlike the Asari in Mass Effect - a female-only alien race that is openly fetishized by pretty much every race ever, including humans. Yet you also see Asari doctors, scientists, warriors... some of the most intelligent, powerful and wise characters in the series are Asari. Yet some still choose to live as prostitutes - seems to me we shouldn't judge, just like we really shouldn't judge what leads someone to become a prostitute IRL.
It's implied Miqo'te are tribal. Seekers are part of patriarchal tribes, for the most part, and it's the strongest male that gets selected for breeding, which does tend to mean females are inferior in their hierarchy - it implies that they consider the male to be more important to the child being desirable than the female. Basically, the females in terms of breeding are vessels for the Nunh's strong offspring.
Most of the Miqo'te NPCs we see out there are females. And we see them away from their tribes, integrated into other races' worlds - they are, essentially, foreigners. They leave their tribes with likely nothing to their name other than whatever skills they possess. If they're good fighters, cool, they can end up as soldiers, or pirates, or mercenaries (we see quite a few of those). You could get lucky and land a job as a clerk or a tour guide, like we see in Limsa. Or you could get unlucky and not land a job. And then you might turn to prostitution. You know where else that happens? Real life.
Sure, much of it may be fanservice - but it's fanservice that actually seems to fit with the lore, imo. Plus, to a female Seeker, the idea of sex with a stranger may not be as taboo as it would be to us. They do have to bear their Nunh's offspring, and I doubt every single female who's ever bred with a Nunh was attracted to him. It's a duty, probably mostly mechanical and impersonal... like prostitution tends to be.
Regarding the FATE, I don't think it's degrading so much as... well, pretending to be submissive and completely into your client is a thing that prostitutes do? Female ones especially, unless the client specifically has tastes for being dominated. It's part of the performance. And the client being a Roegadyn isn't terribly unusual either - it's not as though clients only ever seek prostitutes of their same race.
To me it's not terribly unlike the Asari in Mass Effect - a female-only alien race that is openly fetishized by pretty much every race ever, including humans. Yet you also see Asari doctors, scientists, warriors... some of the most intelligent, powerful and wise characters in the series are Asari. Yet some still choose to live as prostitutes - seems to me we shouldn't judge, just like we really shouldn't judge what leads someone to become a prostitute IRL.
