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cathywIn Ann Leckie's Translation State, we are finally getting to see a bit of the culture of the Presger Translators - descendants of humans who were essentially kidnapped and genetically altered to be able to interface with both the very, very alien Presger and the humans they originated from.
Really, seriously genetically altered.
Part of the alteration involves a "mate or die" biological imperative, about which the juveniles are told, "when the time comes, you will be matched with someone, and that match will complete you as an adult." That's it. That's all. Nothing about the process of matching, and not about the "or die" part; the juveniles are generally compliant to begin with, mostly excited about achieving adulthood, and generally don't need to be threatened into going through with it. (Also, Presger Translator juveniles operate on a 'life is cheap' basis; vivisecting and consuming one's classmates is par for the course in Translator middle schools. Yikes.)
Qven, our Presger Translator POV character, sees the horrifying results of a match that was improperly completed, and hears "on the playground" that if one is matched to an adult instead of another juvenile that one loses one's individual identity and is subsumed into the adult, and (reasonably, I think) concludes that the last thing they want to do is match with someone. They try to flee, with the complicity of someone who claims to be helping but instead forces a match upon them (which is only partially completed, as they fend the attacker off with a knife). They are rescued, complete with victim-blaming. Their reputation and prospects are now ruined! All their clade's plans for them, out the window! The high-status match that had been lined up? Off the table... so all that's left for them is to take what they can get.
(They still prefer to not match with anyone, and only at that point are they told about the 'or die' clause, as the teacher and the Translator to whom they are both responsible eventually realized that the best way to secure Qven's cooperation is to actually answer their questions. It's also made clear to Qven that if they were not otherwise among the best and brightest of a high-status clade, the best they could have hoped for would have been to be disposed of quickly instead of left to die unmatched.)
I don't know if it was the intent, but reading all this I can't help but think about girls trapped in conservative cultures where arranged marriage is the norm, sex ed is saved for the wedding night if offered at all, submission to one's husband is expected, and if you're sexually assaulted you're almost better off if your attacker kills you.
It's really fucked up, regardless of species. I'm about halfway through the book and I don't know if a societal change for the Translators is in the cards here? but as a human here on earth I can say, even in full awareness that I'm preaching to the choir: children have a fucking right to age-appropriate comprehensive sex ed, virginity fetishization is for the birds, and anyone who would valorize "submissive" wives over equal partners in marriage needs to sit down and take a good long hard look at their life and their choices.
Really, seriously genetically altered.
Part of the alteration involves a "mate or die" biological imperative, about which the juveniles are told, "when the time comes, you will be matched with someone, and that match will complete you as an adult." That's it. That's all. Nothing about the process of matching, and not about the "or die" part; the juveniles are generally compliant to begin with, mostly excited about achieving adulthood, and generally don't need to be threatened into going through with it. (Also, Presger Translator juveniles operate on a 'life is cheap' basis; vivisecting and consuming one's classmates is par for the course in Translator middle schools. Yikes.)
Qven, our Presger Translator POV character, sees the horrifying results of a match that was improperly completed, and hears "on the playground" that if one is matched to an adult instead of another juvenile that one loses one's individual identity and is subsumed into the adult, and (reasonably, I think) concludes that the last thing they want to do is match with someone. They try to flee, with the complicity of someone who claims to be helping but instead forces a match upon them (which is only partially completed, as they fend the attacker off with a knife). They are rescued, complete with victim-blaming. Their reputation and prospects are now ruined! All their clade's plans for them, out the window! The high-status match that had been lined up? Off the table... so all that's left for them is to take what they can get.
(They still prefer to not match with anyone, and only at that point are they told about the 'or die' clause, as the teacher and the Translator to whom they are both responsible eventually realized that the best way to secure Qven's cooperation is to actually answer their questions. It's also made clear to Qven that if they were not otherwise among the best and brightest of a high-status clade, the best they could have hoped for would have been to be disposed of quickly instead of left to die unmatched.)
I don't know if it was the intent, but reading all this I can't help but think about girls trapped in conservative cultures where arranged marriage is the norm, sex ed is saved for the wedding night if offered at all, submission to one's husband is expected, and if you're sexually assaulted you're almost better off if your attacker kills you.
It's really fucked up, regardless of species. I'm about halfway through the book and I don't know if a societal change for the Translators is in the cards here? but as a human here on earth I can say, even in full awareness that I'm preaching to the choir: children have a fucking right to age-appropriate comprehensive sex ed, virginity fetishization is for the birds, and anyone who would valorize "submissive" wives over equal partners in marriage needs to sit down and take a good long hard look at their life and their choices.
