Well, you're probably safe from Anya. Me, I don't know what a) invested in male culture really means b) how Mal demonstrated that and in a far distant third position c) how closely tied that is to non-fictitious parenting.

So that's what I was wondering about.

OK. I don't know anything about psychological studies. I raised a boy, but it was with the assistance of a strong woman.

OK. "Assistance" is too strong. She raised him. I occasionally played b-ball with him,giving him the ego-boost of trouncing my academic tushy.

I'm gonna mix Beverly and ita's speculation on Zoe and say that perhaps her family was the security end of a formal household. Training in being both deadly and polite.

I don't think so, aurelia. She doesn't strike me as someone raised to service the "those people right there" (which is different from a general "service" ethos)

I'm not really thinking of it as "service" so much as a culture in which security is both necessary and highly regarded.

How about an artificial station or colony in a hostile environment for Zoe? A dangerous enviroment could leave the culture very conscious of both rank and ability.

She could have been raised in something like a gender-equitable Barrayar.

gender-equitable Barrayar ...

Zoe is Elena Bothari! I knew it!

I could definitely see Zoe in a military family. But she also does have quite a bearing of authority, although not necessarily the need to be top dog. Government otherwise, maybe?

I am home. I am having soup and bread for supper, and screw the diet, I WILL HAVE THE VANILLA ICE CREAM AND HOT BUTTERSCOTCH.