Gender roles

[Zhavi]

The real reason the chimp/lala analogy fails is because Chimpanzees have giant arms with lots of leverage for muscles to work on. Lalafells have little tiny T-rex arms. Even if their muscles were 10x stronger they're at such a mechanical disadvantage they'd still have problems keeping up with a Highlander.

 

 

(I had to, sorry)

 

(carry on!)

[C'kayah Polaali]

 

 

Part of the reason we're weaker is because our brains are actually holding us back in order to prevent us from damaging ourselves in the process of exertion. 

 

I would really l like a citation on this, because I have literally never heard this before.

 

Here is the article Zyrusticae is likely referring to. While it's a suggestive study, it doesn't really examine causality, and I would hesitate to claim its hypothesis as fact. I would want to see similar studies across a greater range of species (and not just primates - dolphins are arguably more intelligent than humans, but they have not sacrificed much in the way of physical strength, though they do have the benefit of being aquatic) before considering a causal link.

And the only thing I was really trying to do with the point, anyways, is just suggest that Lalafell aren't necessarily weak as toddlers just because they're toddler sized.

 

Fear them.

[Zyrusticae]

Well, yeah, of course they're not as weak (misleading word - toddlers are, pound for pound, not actually that weak, just uncoordinated), because Lalafells are actually adults who just happen to be tiny and consequently have fully-developed brains and the neurological and motor systems to accompany that.

 

But come on, you know that they'd be screwed without aether to back them up. Those tiny little arms and legs, even if they packed much more power than an equivalent human's, are still too much of a disadvantage to just ignore without something to compensate for it.

[C'kayah Polaali]

Well, yeah, of course they're not as weak (misleading word - toddlers are, pound for pound, not actually that weak, just uncoordinated), because Lalafells are actually adults who just happen to be tiny and consequently have fully-developed brains and the neurological and motor systems to accompany that.

 

But come on, you know that they'd be screwed without aether to back them up. Those tiny little arms and legs, even if they packed much more power than an equivalent human's, are still too much of a disadvantage to just ignore without something to compensate for it.

I'm over 6 feet tall, with big gorilla arms. I used to do classical fencing, and one of my favorite opponents was a young woman who was well under five feet tall. My foil easily had a good foot on the length of hers. By all "size matters" criteria, I should be able to easily spank her without fear of reprisal.

 

However, real life doesn't necessarily respect those criteria. While my reach with the foil was greater than hers (and the length of my lunge, length of my step, etc), my "minimum distance" was also greater. If I could keep her at foil length, I was okay. But if she could close on me when I lunged, I wouldn't be able to retreat fast enough. We ended up pretty evenly matched, and had a blast.

 

I think you're looking at the same thing with the Lalafell. Especially if they're armed. If they can close on a bigger opponent, then they're at an advantage.

 

We might want to split this off into a different thread about racial differences in combat. This is veering pretty far off from gender roles.

[allgivenover]

 

 

Sold into a trade "where no woman deserves to go" as kids. Yep.

 

Eorzea is fairly "modern" when it comes to upward mobility and opportunity for women, but this is just more evidence that violence against them is still a problem.

 

I missed the screenshot where he said them already knowing how to "sheath his blade" was just a bonus. Implying they had experience.