You're right, SE probably can't make a game where the content and gameplay is heavily swayed by which gender you pick at character creation, especially if it's one sided (like women not being able to play all classes but men can). On the other hand, there is no "timeline" to speak of, because while this game looks to us as resembling medieval / renaissance times... it's not. Nothing that we culturally know of those times has to apply here because it's a fantasy, and the lore is not set within the Earth timeline.
As far as pointing to women being the heads of the three nations as an example of dominance, I think that is also narrow minded in it's own way. What if this is a rare coincidence in the history of Eorzea?
OOC'ly, SE wouldn't get flack from groups focused on "men's rights" by making all three leaders female, or even making female characters seem more dominant, but if things were reversed? There would be a huge outcry if all the leaders were men, and it seemed that men were more dominant. The Keeper clan is a matriarchy, but is there a race/clan that is male dominated? I don't think so, because again - no one will protest a female dominated culture but if there was also a male dominated one (even in a fantasy) there would be trouble.
This is one of the reasons I don't particularly respect the lore (although I generally follow it), because it's very heavily shaped by OOC politics.
As far as pointing to women being the heads of the three nations as an example of dominance, I think that is also narrow minded in it's own way. What if this is a rare coincidence in the history of Eorzea?
OOC'ly, SE wouldn't get flack from groups focused on "men's rights" by making all three leaders female, or even making female characters seem more dominant, but if things were reversed? There would be a huge outcry if all the leaders were men, and it seemed that men were more dominant. The Keeper clan is a matriarchy, but is there a race/clan that is male dominated? I don't think so, because again - no one will protest a female dominated culture but if there was also a male dominated one (even in a fantasy) there would be trouble.
This is one of the reasons I don't particularly respect the lore (although I generally follow it), because it's very heavily shaped by OOC politics.
I’m the bullies you hate, that you became.
