(02-22-2014, 04:28 PM)Norna Wrote: In either case, even if they come from the same tribes, they seem to have a wide range of lifestyles (pirate/scholar from the Jaguars, Ul'dah's songstress/storm officers from the Bears, hot springs hostess?/pirate/customs agent? from the Antelopes), so I think that their morality/society would essentially be human, since they adapt so well to living with everyone else (also, we must consider that Miqo'te are welcomed by the other races, which would be unlikely if they practiced child-killings on a societal scale, or anything else that would remove them from humanity to a point that the other races become uncomfortable).
Gonna be playing devil's advocate here, because I find this whole topic fascinating on both sides. Personally, I don't believe Nunh's would kill previously defeated Nunh's children on a "global-norm" scale. But I definitely can't discount the likelihood that maybe a few Nunh's or even select tribes might. Each tribe is different as has been pointed out. It's not impossible to believe that some of the more warrior-like tribes or tribes containing a large enough population of Tias attempting to become Nunhs might indulge in knocking off some competition. Why not? Humans, historically those in royal families, do it all the time. Not just lions.
Anyways, back on the topic of Miqo'te adapting their societal norms to accommodate/appease the other sentient races' societal norms. If we are speaking of tribal miqo'te (which is what the OP was all about) we have a lot of Lore backing up the fact that many of them don't conform to societies' expectations and many tribes revel in their being isolationists.Â
The Drake Tribe of Seekers in the Sagolii, for example, have lived in near complete isolation for many years after their village ceased being a trade route. It wasn't until Belah'dian ruins were found deep in the Sagolii that merchants and miners and the like started revisiting their home. If you speak with the Miqo'te, they are quite mistrustful of outsiders and don't want anything to do with outsiders' influence upon their Tribe.
Another example would be the Keepers of the Moon families who poach South Shroud. It's stated time and again that they are ostracized from Gridanian society because they refuse to give up their Hunter/Gatherer roots. Getting away from Miqo'te for a brief moment, we can look at the schism between Duskwight and Wildwood cultures. There's a great lack of cultural intermingling there as well.
Another thing I'd like to challenge is this "global society" we all keep referencing. Eorzea is not a society or a culture. It's a place, home to a wide range of societies and cultures. We have a xenophobic society that populates Gridania. Right next door, we also have a separate society of Keeper Miqo'te living in the South Shroud that embrace a Hunter/Gatherer/Poacher culture that is given to be consistent with traditional Keeper Miqo'te values - Values that may or may not be influenced by their biology/genetics.
In favor of the Biology viewpoint, let's look at the Drake Tribe: a society who's culture revolves around hunting and mating. Talk to every female miqo'te in Forgotten Springs. Their two topics of conversation are "look what I just killed!" and "so when is your next 'coupling'?" This goes right in line with Myxie's OP. And it's not that we're saying the Drake Tribe isn't sentient; they are a sentient race capable of rational thought. It's just their particular culture's rational thought revolves around their more primal or "animalistic" desires and basic needs of survival.Â
In favor of the argument against biology being the sole motivator of societal norms, let's look at F'lhammin. She has no combative inclinations. She's a dancer/songstress. And as far as mating goes, she makes it quite clear that she is still hung up on her one love, Niellefresne, who has been dead 15 years now. Is F'lhammin a lone exception to this rule? Or can we make the jump and say the Bear Tribe culture accepts monogamist values in their society? We have no black and white lore telling us yes or no, and probably never will. The knowledge that this dynamic might exist as canon in Bear Tribe culture is hardly useless to someone who might wish to RP a monogamist character from the Bear tribe.Â
But when we say things like "society won't accept baby-killers" or "they're all 'humans' so they all have the same ethics and morals we do" - what society are we talking about? We have lore about Hellsguard Roegadyn ditching their third and fourth kids to the wild because they can't support them. Yet we don't see Eorzean citizens ostracizing Hellsguardian culture en mass. Instead of saying this is useless information, think instead of how this may influence a Keeper of the Moon's perception of the Hellsguard race. Keepers are a highly motherly society who biologically can't seem to birth enough male offspring. Their culture may find Hellsguardians ditching baby boys left and right as immoral. This is something I'd like to call lore-informed biology influencing a sentient culture's beliefs. Something to play with if you so desired.
TL;DR
What I've tried to illustrate in this post is that while Myxie's (amazing) post may not be the end-all-be-all for Miqo'te's cultural influences, it most certainly provides at least one solid avenue in which to explore and explain why Miqo'te tribes may behave in certain ways. She admits it's not canon, but her extrapolation of the lore is no less creative and no more useless than what the average RPer skims from the lore to build their own character's values, history, and story arc. Instead of bashing the post for being exactly what the title say it is ("Miqo'te Mating Strategies Explored: a Biologist's Point of View") take this post and make a study to compliment it: "Miqo'te Tribal Societies Explored: The Effects of Racial and Cultural Integration on Tribe Values." All anyone is doing by bashing the OP is stifling the chance others will step up to publish alternative creative views on this topic and related ones.
