Gender ratio imbalance

[Bramblethorn]

But to raise children you must birth them first, so the number of women sets kind of a hard limit (this apart from issues that much of the raising is still done by female adults, as is often much the more efficient resource gathering (gathering vs hunting for instance). And most of the work).

Those may be common tendencies in RL societies, but they aren't biological necessities and it's not automatic that they'll happen the same way in ahistorical circumstances. In a society that has extra men, some will end up doing what we think of as "women's work".

- Competition between wives for the attention of the husband is rife as is jockeying for the position of favourite,
- The favourite is most often the first wife married, that is until one of the wives gives birth to son, who'll be the heir of the husband, and then she becomes favourite
- While there might be some affection, even love between a husband and his wives, in the main, marriage is an economical contract and not seen as binding for life
- That means that a woman, if she's not satisfied with her situation, can pack her things and either join another household (as wife) or go to the Lodge

Is it common for a husband to cast off an older wife who's past childbearing age, or a younger one who's not capable of producing children? If it's easy for him to replace her with another woman, seems like that'd be more common than in our world (not that it's exactly rare here).

How is the Lodge supported? Since it's the alternative to marriage, seems like it'd be in men's interests to keep it unappealing.

How do single women look after their pastured/roaming livestock while they're living in the centre of town? Granted these are small towns, but still, seems like it would often be more practical to live near where their livestock are kept.

 

[Bubo_bubo]

Is it common for a husband to cast off an older wife who's past childbearing age, or a younger one who's not capable of producing children? If it's easy for him to replace her with another woman, seems like that'd be more common than in our world (not that it's exactly rare here).

Women own the land. He can cast off an older woman, he'll lose the income of the land she owns (younger women will stay with their mothers unless she can give them part of her land so they can find their own husbands)

How is the Lodge supported? Since it's the alternative to marriage, seems like it'd be in men's interests to keep it unappealing.

Women own the land. So income from the land (and livestock) that women in the Lodge have.

How do single women look after their pastured/roaming livestock while they're living in the centre of town? Granted these are small towns, but still, seems like it would often be more practical to live near where their livestock are kept.

That's what you have children for.
Shouldn't forget that's how medieval villages functioned (agricultural land around the village and then grazing lands just outside that). The land of a household was usually not directly adjacent to the house of people.

Don't forget, the idea is very much that all children depend of their mother, unless they're the first son born to a male.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Women own the land. He can cast off an older woman, he'll lose the income of the land she owns (younger women will stay with their mothers unless she can give them part of her land so they can find their own husbands)



Women own the land. So income from the land (and livestock) that women in the Lodge have.

Is there an incentive there for a woman to marry just long enough to get a couple of kids, then ditch the husband and enjoy the income she gets from the land, worked by those kids, and no longer having to share it with the sperm donor?

In a monogamous society, a woman benefits from having a partner who can do at least some of the childcare etc. But if you have one man with five wives, obviously what he can do for any one wife is less than in a monogamous situation, so what's the percentage for her in staying? Why is there fierce competition for his favour, it they're financially independent?

 

[Bubo_bubo]

Is there an incentive there for a woman to marry just long enough to get a couple of kids, then ditch the husband and enjoy the income she gets from the land, worked by those kids, and no longer having to share it with the sperm donor?

In a monogamous society, a woman benefits from having a partner who can do at least some of the childcare etc. But if you have one man with five wives, obviously what he can do for any one wife is less than in a monogamous situation, so what's the percentage for her in staying? Why is there fierce competition for his favour, it they're financially independent?

Mind you, it was a large brainfart.

But to answer your first question
- Households present the advantage of some division of labour (especially for household chores)
- There is a man around, who can help with some of the work (and well, sex)
- I'd also imagine that it would be men that own draught animals, because it's more economical to have one for the plots of several women. Moreover draught animals would tend to be stabled, and fed on forage, rather than put out to pasture. If you live in the lodge you have to shop around for someone with a draught animal, and pay them, and that person is going to prioritise the land of his wives;

And that gives us some elements for your last question
- A first element is what you indicate yourself right before: they'd compete for his labour, and that includes ploughing your land with his draught animal. If you're in his favour you get to call dibs when your land is ploughed
- Being favourite would also give an advantage in how household chores are divided between the different women
- You might also get the better sleeping spot in the house
- and well, sex.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Mind you, it was a large brainfart.

Sure. My questions here are in the spirit of fleshing it out, not trying to shoot it down.

But to answer your first question
- Households present the advantage of some division of labour (especially for household chores

So does the lodge.

- There is a man around, who can help with some of the work

Hrrm. He can, but will he? If there's fierce competition among the women for his favour, why would he need to pull his weight on the housework?

(and well, sex)

In Literotica land, I guess. But if he's sharing that between five women and doing his share of the chores, there's not going to be a lot to go around. Meanwhile, dick is not the only game in town, just sayin' ;-)

- I'd also imagine that it would be men that own draught animals, because it's more economical to have one for the plots of several women.
Moreover draught animals would tend to be stabled, and fed on forage, rather than put out to pasture. If you live in the lodge you have to shop around for someone with a draught animal, and pay them, and that person is going to prioritise the land of his wives;

The lodge already has several women living there, with plots of their own to tend. If it's a draught animal they need, seems like it'd be easier just to get a draught animal for the lodge? An ox is a lot less trouble than a husband.

 

[Bubo_bubo]

Sure. My questions here are in the spirit of fleshing it out, not trying to shoot it down.



So does the lodge.

Most women will be in transition, and there will be more of them around so less easy to organise,

Hrrm. He can, but will he? If there's fierce competition among the women for his favour, why would he need to pull his weight on the housework?

If he doesn't he'll find himself soon enough with less wives. He has to do the favour for the women to compete (repairing their fences, help with the weeding, helping the nannygoat kid, get that thing from the top shelf, ploughing their land, ploughing their furrow,...)

In Literotica land, I guess. But if he's sharing that between five women and doing his share of the chores, there's not going to be a lot to go around. Meanwhile, dick is not the only game in town, just sayin' ;-)

Actually with women spending around I say about a quarter of their time in the lodge (between marriages/waiting for marriages/etc. I'd guess most men would have less than five wives.
Opportunistic woman on woman sex is of course very much a possibility (and will be probably tolerated - if not outright encouraged, man on man sex on the other hand...)

ETA: there is the point they need the sex to have children.

The lodge already has several women living there, with plots of their own to tend. If it's a draught animal they need, seems like it'd be easier just to get a draught animal for the lodge? An ox is a lot less trouble than a husband.

Who cares for/owns the animal becomes the question.
But yes there are possibilities. It might be that a few elder women form a more permanent presence at the lodge to organise things, and also form like a council of elders to adjudicate conflicts.
So living in the lodge would mean living with the bossladies.

 

[Probus888]

Firstly, a big thanks to all those who responded. You have all given me some food for thought with some other potential societies I had not thought about. The idea of writing a society with a large gender imbalance came to me one evening.

I figured a 5 male to 1 female imbalance would be a hugely unpleasant world with women kept locked away by the strongest men for breeding purposes. Given males' greater physical strength and aggression, I thought that the most likely outcome with the unattached males wandering angrily and aggressively around trying to get access to a woman. I know that, in theory, a woman should be powerful in that world but in reality they would be utterly powerless. I thought that society would most likely become some kind of hell for everyone very quickly.

However, a 5 female to 1 male imbalance has far more potential. I figured that chemicals in the atmosphere might cause this asymmetry after the colonists arrived. Yes, I know, this is not hard sci-fi but I wanted to keep it plausible.

This is Literotica after all and so the story had to be erotic – as far as I can do it, anyway! I think I am a good writer and those who have read my stories (both here and elsewhere) think they are well-written but I know I am not a great writer.

It is a sci-fi/fantasy story with the setting in a regressed lost colony. Yeah, I know, been there – done that. Over millennia, the Terran Tetrarchy has expanded and contracted many times due to economic collapse or civil wars caused by one faction or another. Many major planets have sent out colonies but, over time, data has been lost or destroyed and now nobody knows how far along the Galaxy's spiral arm humanity's reach has spread. Now the Tetrarchy is expanding outwards again and coming across forgotten worlds.

So the starship sends out a pair of explorers to see what impact off-world contact might have with the locals. This world has regressed more or less to a pre-industrial society similar to the early medieval period. I am currently several chapters in and the women live in harems although there is an alternative for women who don't want to live in a harem and those past child-bearing age. The women are not slaves and can leave the harem if they want and go elsewhere. Needless to say, the male explorer is loving it; the female less so.

My story does seem to be descending to an Edgar Rice Burroughs level (oh, dear) with adventures for the pair. It is Literotica, not great literature, and I think a story should be exciting with things happening and not masses of data about society etc. although there is stuff about how the locals live. Also, I am having fun writing it.

But the concept of a large gender imbalance intrigued me as to how things could develop and I wanted to get other people's take on it as well and you have given me ideas for other societies on this world to be explored. Our world is not a uniform culture (though more than it was with the current dominance of US culture) and neither would this world be.

Thanks again!