Inside the Planet of the Women | 1, 2, 3

Females and Males

The relation between the sexes seemed quite impenetrable at first blush. I saw some females moving about with their own personal service males, who often carried a variety of parcels for the females. Other females moved about singly or in packs of as many as four, unaccompanied by personal service males. Was this caste-related? Were these females, for one reason or another, not allowed or not able to have personal service males? They seemed to wander more, to be less tentative as they picked up Avatars to evaluate. I wondered whether this was natural selection at work. Were these the women whose future it was to attempt to mate and continue their bloodline? Is this why the choice of Avatars was so difficult for them, because of the stakes riding on the choice?

I noticed that there were very few young ones in the area. Perhaps the freely roaming females had personal service males at home, nurturing their offspring. There were some younger females present, which led me to guess that the older females might be teaching them the skills needed to survive in this environment.

I observed one female with her young male, who at one point ran to the door of the cavernous Den. The female prevented him from entering. I wondered whether the fate of her young male would be to become a servant like the other males here. Would she want that for her offspring? Or were the roles so ingrained that this thought would never occur? Had she hoped for a female child instead?

Whereas it was more difficult to determine the caste system for females, the system for males was more accessible to observation. The personal service males had a straighter carriage and bearing than the shoe service males. Among the shoe service males, the Station males seemed to stoop less than the Primaries, who stooped less than the Secondaries, who often failed to even make eye contact with females.

The Primaries appeared to be shared jointly by the females. However, the loyalty system was as complex as any I have ever witnessed. Each of the females demonstrated differing levels of demand, and all were spaced out over a large area. The Primaries balanced their attentions among the females while being ever mindful of a shifting balance, as females entered and exited the area. One misstep, and a slighted female would let her wrath be known to all.

The most shocking thing I discovered, though, was that the Primaries actually competed for the attention of females in a very subtle manner. Although the females often seemed to be commanding them, the Primaries were aggressively making themselves available to as many females as possible. Was this, also, a form of natural selection at work? I had the rare and distinct privilege to overhear two Primaries, upon learning that they had been serving the same female, quietly agree to "split it" and speak no more of it. Whether there was some reward system in place for the Primaries, I could not say, but this interaction seemed to suggest that there was.

Though most females avoided conflicts, I did witness a few incidents. For example, I watched as a Secondary tried to clear away what he appeared to believe were rejected shoes. A female swooped in almost immediately to chastise him, reclaiming her shoes with significant force. The Secondary scurried away fearfully, but the female apparently realized she had made a mistake. She carried her shoes with her from then on, acquiring another territory later while trying out an additional pair of shoes. In marking a Chair territory, shoes alone were not sufficient

Additionally, I watched as a Station male, perhaps unwittingly, wandered away from his station into the fray of females. The male was suddenly cornered and cut off from his pack by a passing female. She spoke to him, and his response must have angered her, because she rebuked him severely at the end of their interaction. It would seem that working at such a station might be desirable for a male, as long as he was careful.

Final Reflections

It's difficult to put an adventure like this into a proper perspective. One is reduced to asking questions that sound breathless, due to the exertions of the mind required to fathom such experiences.

This much I can tell you. It is most important to know about that unusual world, to know it exists. It may have no effect on one's daily life. However, one must consider that such a world may not have existed eternally. In fact it may have, at one point, looked exactly like our world.

As I emerged from my observation post and prepared to depart, I noticed that the service male who had been playing a musical instrument upon my arrival had been replaced with another service male, playing a different instrument. I wondered at the fragility of life in this world, where males of such talents could be so easily discarded.

Will that be our fate? You must draw your own conclusions, and act upon them according to your own conscience. I bid you courage in your deliberations.