Short version: it's irritating when people today buy into or have to live with idiot gender stereotyping and gendered roles in the workplace. 500 years and several galaxies from here, in a fictional universe, I don't think there's any excuse to leave all that unexamined.

Fair point, well made.

I don't know - does the fact that gender roles have regressed in the hinterlands need to be any more closely examined than such regressions as "she's a witch, burn her"? If superstitions have regressed to that degree in places, why wouldn't gender roles?

Nutty, do you think it makes a difference that on Firefly, the writing staff is overwhelmingly male? Also, where does Zoe fall into the gender stereotyping dynamic?

I don't really think about the companion issue on Firefly, it's an internal fanwank of Inara, maybe. I ignore her character, mostly.

Unsure if any of this may have been examined, if the show went beyond 13 episodes.

I can see that attitudes toward sex would change over 500 years, I can see a time where people who are experts on performing sexual acts would eventually have the same prestige granted to a really great masseuse, who is also charged with making one's body feel good.

It's the ambassador part that loses me, the political influence. I don't see how the ability to give a really great blowjob gives one such a great amount of prestige that their opinion counts in a diplomatic situation.

It's the ambassador part that loses me, the political influence. I don't see how the ability to give a really great blowjob gives one such a great amount of prestige that their opinion counts in a diplomatic situation.

France, 1400-1700. You'll find courtisans doing almost the exact same thing and having actually quite a bit more influence in the royal (and provincial, though to a lesser extent) courts. In fact, this can be traced back through various cultures to the time of King Darius of Persion and Alexander of Macedonia if one were to apply the research necessary. I would cite examples here, but I've just woken up and have not that kind of mental ability at the moment.

France, 1400-1700. You'll find courtisans doing almost the exact same thing and having actually quite a bit more influence in the royal (and provincial, though to a lesser extent) courts. In fact, this can be traced back through various cultures to the time of King Darius of Persion and Alexander of Macedonia if one were to apply the research necessary. I would cite examples here, but I've just woken up and have not that kind of mental ability at the moment.

That's fascinating, Griffyn. sends wake-up and good-coffee vibes Come back and give examples later, please? I'd love to hear more about it.

I'd like to hear more about it as well. It'd be an interesting comparision to Inara's role.

Not Griffyn, but some really quick Googling:

• a brief comparison of the difference between Greek hetaira and normal whores--hetaira were generally educated, associated with only one or two men, invited to dinner parties/symposia, and granted more freedom than wives and more respect than streetwalkers. They had, however, like other Grecian women, absolutely no direct political power--any influence they exerted was due to their association with men. (Alexander the Great famously burned a city to amuse one.)

"Hetaira" apparently translates literally as "companion," something I did not know until 15 seconds ago, and find rather intriguing.

There seems to be an interesting and relevant academic essay (Sex, Politics, and Discursive Conflict in Archaic Greece) online, but it's in PDF.

Based on my really rather haphazard knowledge -- I'd say that hetairae were as respected as Companions, but didn't have the independence or direct political influence Companions appear to have.

• Brief bio of one of Louis XIV's most influential mistresses, Mme du Pompadour.

  Where she and other royal mistresses again differ from Companions is that Companions appear to have status independent of their association with particular men, or a particular class of man, or a long-term relationship with any individuals, which is one of the aspects of Firefly worldbuilding that remains most puzzling--or most indicative of male fantasy, depending on your perspective.

Edited to fix up pronoun antecedents.

Interesting, Micole.

Mme du Pompadour.

This name is cracking me up in a big way.