Atruozan gender

The Atruozan gender system, or the FiVe-GeNdEr SyStEm (more people yoink this baby, the name gets actual credence), is the legal gender system within the majority of Atruosphere nations, or a recognised system therein, and is culturally predominant within groups of Atruozan peoples and very common within areas of diaspora. (!!Don't feel afraid to adopt this framework or a fun mix/transitional blend of this and the Adzamasiin gender framework within South Baredina north of the Atruosphere, esp in and east of the central range (same goes for esp far southern Ystel)!! Anywhere else adopting it can get mentioned in here later in edit). The system is comprised of five genders, and bears similarity to the Adzamasiin gender system, leading some to propose a potential common origin of the two. The genders are tied to specific social roles, personality traits, and behaviours.

Transliteration and orthography

In modern Atruozan, the five genders are semreittu, lonkweuo, menaippø, ëmmersüp, and kwuomãl (pronounced as [s̪emre:t̪:u loɴ̟ɢ̟wɜʊ̯wo men̪aɪ̯p:ø ɛm:ers̪ʏp q̟wu:mɑ̃l], respectively). From these the English/meta names were chosen. These are, in order, semreittu, longqeuwo, menaippo, emmeirsup, and qwuumal. There are no distinct plural forms.

Overview

As previously mentioned, the five genders are semreittu, longqeuwo, menaippo, emmeirsup, and qwuumal. In an extreme oversimplification, these might be translated as home-carers, hunters, processors, crafters, and spirituality/healers/teachers. Among peoples with the Adzamasiin gender system, semreittu and longqeuwo are often conflated with sena and rukrar, respectively, and by further extension, it isn't uncommon for binary or binary-plus gender system peoples to conflate these two with 'woman' and 'man'. This is of course inaccurate, especially in the later case, and perfect likeness being assumed in the former is also incorrect as there are some differences in specific role, in addition to the Atruozan gender system not being tied strictly to physical sex. In groups with the four-gender system with quurosh, or binary-plus groups, qwuumal may occasionally be assumed to be a perfect likeness (to the third gender role within binary-plus groupings), which is also inaccurate.

That said, there are physical-sex based notable trends which can be observed, and as such an extraordinarily oversimplified summary can be provided in the following table :

	AFAB	AMAB	Intersex
feminine	semreittu	emmeirsup	qwuumal
masculine	menaippo	longqeuwo

AFAB and AMAB refer to those who would, in a two-gender system, be assigned female/male at birth (respectively). In short, AFAB people are born with a vulva and vagina, and AMAB people with a penis and testes. "Feminine" and "masculine" refer to gender expression, but are not very accurate terms, since within gender system each gender has its own specific role, personality traits, appropriate attire and expression, and expected behaviour. Qwuumal are generally seen as neutral, if slightly "masculine"-leaning, as evidenced by Atruozan languages with a noun-class system containing neutral animate, "masculine", and "feminine", which most often place qwuumal referents under the neutral animate as it relates to intersex and AMAB individuals, whereas with respect to AFAB individuals, qwuumal referents are placed under the "masculine". In languages with this noun-class division or a similar one, qwuumal and its related things are also seen placed regardless into a neutral animate class, or more rarely, with the aforementioned sex-based divide occuring, but with AMAB qwuumal referents placed under the "feminine".

The gender distribution of the population is approximately 40% semreittu, 25% lonqeuwo, 18% menaippo, 13% emmeirsup, and 4% qwuumal. To further elaborate on the sex-based trends seen, it is estimated that around 80% of semreittu are AFAB, 78% of longqeuwo are AMAB, 60% of menaippo are AFAB, 85% of emmeirsup are AMAB, and that around 82% of intersex individuals identify as qwuumal (the remainder is divided by an AMAB:AFAB ratio estimated at around 1.4:1).

Gender roles

The traditional gender roles and their duties are centred around the nomadic and semi-nomadic ways of life traditionally common to most Ystelo-Atruozan (and adjacent?) peoples. In regions with relatively more sedentary lifestyles traditionally, similar albeit slightly different roles adapted to such a lifestyle were and are seen. In the present day, these roles and duties remain largely the same, albeit with some adaptation in cities and larger towns in line with the modernisation of life in the current era.

Semreittu

Semreittu are among the "feminine" personalities, and are most commonly (although not exclusively) AFAB. They are the "home-carers", and associated strongly with the home in all aspects, as well as with nurturing, compassionate, gentle, and dominant personalities. In nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes, they are the ones responsible for the contruction and maintenance of the home/tent/shelter, as well as for its eventual deconstruction, winterisation, or summerisation, and the keeping of inventory and preparation for transport of the housing materials. Semreittu are the primary caregivers during the day of infants and very young children, and often are tasked with light foraging in close proximity to the village or campsite.

In traditionally sedentary communities who partook in some lighter farming, they would often work with the planting and raising of crops, as well as aid somewhat in their harvest, in addition to the general daily tending to livestock, including both milking muskoxen and camels, and collecting qiviut (muskox wool). They are also generally in charge of barter and gift transactions traditionally, which translates in the modern era in larger settlements to them most often dealing with both the setting of prices and general shopping, especially of food-based groceries (this in addition to partaking in gardening and/or foraging).

In cities and large towns, semreittu are still most often those dealing with the watching and raising of young children and infants during the day, while dealing with the family's finances, despite a fairly large percentage not being officially employed in any capacity. Semreittu hold a very strong dominance within home construction and furnishing, as well as home-based repair and maintenance trades (in the sense of the trades as they relate to residential home applications). It is not uncommon for them to be the one to primarily build their family's home, and on camping and hunting trips are still very much so the ones responsible for lodging. In dealing with the homes and finances, they are also the gender who predominantly deals with the effective "rent" paid for all buildings (within the Atruosphere), as full independent home and land ownership is a foreign concept.

While not common, they may perform roles as midwives, and help out as a cook, second to menaippo. Due to their traditional roles surrounding bartering and trading, as well as home-caring, they also can be found in management and cashier/storefront positions, and are a decently common option as waiters, alongside lonqeuwo and menaippo.

Longqeuwo

Longqeuwo are among the "masculine" personalities, and are most commonly (although not exclusively) AMAB. They are the "hunters", and are strongly associated with the outdoors, curiosity for exploration, selflessness, strength, empathy, patience, and physical sport. In nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes, their duties require them to travel often for the purposes of hunting, and also perform most fishing and some slaughtering. Trips can range from a single day up to several weeks. On larger trips, they may be tasked with the transport of goods for trading, as well as being expected to forage certain further-out nutrients. They are also usually the sole group responsible for the raising and caring of dogs, which traditionally provide them with a method of transportation and hunting aid for the better part of the year. Longqeuwo are expected to be somewhat more jacks-of-all-trades than the other genders, as they require basic knowledge traditionally associated with other gender roles during many trips in which they don't have help from all others in their family who would otherwise fulfil those duties. Such tasks include sewing, cooking, shelter construction, and weapon and tool repair.

In traditionally sedentary communities partaking in light farming, longqeuwo are often tasked with the rearing and slaughtering of livestock, as well as with aiding semreittu in the collection of qiviut. They are the primary group in charge of the crop harvest throughout the year in such communities, and aid somewhat in their planting. While semreittu most often watch over the growth of crops, longqeuwo are specifically tasked with trying to resolve disease and pest issues in the cropland. Even in sedentary communities, a fair amount of their time is still spent foraging, often somewhat further from the community, as well as some fishing and more nearby hunting, although trapping specifically is more common in these tribes overall. As in more nomadic tribes, they are also responsible for the general protection of the community (or their travelling group) wherever present, being traditionally on the lookout for large predators roaming near the village site, or around qwuumal teaching groups, etc. This also applies to watching over the safety of the livestock and crops in sedentary communities.

In cities and larger towns, longqeuwo translate the maintenance of community safety into an overwhelming dominance in security and enforcement positions, including in the police force, as well as make up the majority of soldiers in the often smaller armies of the area used primarily for humanitarian aid. They hold positions in the judicial side of law enforcement alongside qwuumal, and are often found working clerical jobs involving the organisation and taking stock of non-edible supplies not directly relevant to the home, and people, as well as in construction outside the homebuilding sector (although some are rarely found as low-level labourers in home construction) and more generally in non-residential plumbing and electrician trades. Longqeuwo dominate the transportation and distribution sectors, as well as dog veterinarians (as an extension of their traditional dogkeeping and sled-running roles), and are often found working as general staff in shops (especially those dealing with non-food products). In large cities specifically, where applicable, longqeuwo form the majority of urban/city planners.

They are decidedly the most common athletes in the majority of physical sports, originating from their role as the warriors in traditional war games used in place of actual combat, being central to one of the three types of games which occur in those instances, often consisting of very large-scale multi-day games meant to emulate the spirit of combat.

Menaippo

Menaippo are among the "masculine" personalities, and are most commonly AFAB, although a substantial proportion are AMAB. They are the "processors", and associated strongly with butchering, cooking, practicality, respect, physical and mental strength, introversion, quietness, and reliability. In nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes, menaippo are responsible for the breaking down of gathered materials and items for use by others and themselves for food. Hunted animals are brought to them, where they are then skinned and cleaned, with all usable materials being properly treated and sent off to the other genders for tools and supplies (such as treated pelts and separated vegetal fibres), and meats being smoked and cured, cooked, or stored in other forms as deemed necessary. They are highly trained in their craft, as mistakes (especially when dealing with hunted game or fish) results in wastage and thereby immense disrespect for the spirits of the fauna in question. They are also the primary gender responsible for cooking for their family, and deal with taking stock of the food supplies for the winter and ensuring enough is prepared and preserved beforehand as best as possible. Often, menaippo are tasked with breaking down vegetal fibres for the emmeirsup, which they often help collect in their foraging duties, which involve foraging further than semreittu, but within a half-day's travel from the community, and trapping within that range. They are the ones responsible for dealing with the dead, and therefore are at the head of the majority of funerary practices and rites within their communities, a job which requires immense respect for the deceased during the processing of the bodies.

In traditionally sedentary communities, their jobs are often much the same, with somewhat less trapping work and nearer foraging, in addition to helping in the planting and harvesting of crops and the feeding of the livestock. Regardless of sedentariness of the tribe, they not uncommonly go along with longqeuwo, especially on longer trips, to help out to avoid food spoilage and allow the hunters more time to do their duties while the menaippo check and maintain nearby traps and prepare meals.

In cities and large towns, menaippo translate their traditional roles in several ways. Often they are found working as cooks and chefs in restaurants and other institutions. Usually even more commonly, they are found working as butchers, leatherworkers/pelt and hide preppers, and in the food processing industry. It is not uncommon for them to work as cashiers or storefront workers in restaurants and foodstores, though they are much more frequently seen as waiters, where they dominate. They are also often health and safety representatives in their workplaces, and aren't uncommon in the judicial sector as specialised judges and lawyers in the fields of food health and safety. Menaippo also appear decently often in court as expert witnesses for pathology or mortician-related knowledge, which are two fields in which menaippo make up a very strong majority of the workers. It is not that uncommon to see them choose to stay at home and help semreittu by dealing with cooking and gardening, in addition to helping somewhat with children and housecare.

Emmeirsup

Emmeirsup are among the "feminine" personalities, and are most commonly (although not exclusively) AMAB. They are the "crafters", and are strongly associated with sewing, toolmaking, smaller crafting projects, most visual arts, caring, friendliness, kindness, tenacity, and reserved (yet dominant) personalities. In nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes, they play an important rolw in the functioning of society, by acting as the people "behind the scenes". Their roles range from stitching and sewing their families' clothing, to making and helping upkeep kitchen, working, and hunting tools. Often, emmeirsup can be found making pots and cooking supplies, bags, and bedding, but they tend to also be the group expected to be the most artistic outside of music, with painting, carving, tapestries, and beadwork being very commonly seen. It is usually expected of them to collect many of the materials necessary for their own crafts, and to collect some non-animal parts for projects (at least partly) for others. This often involves foraging within a distance of the community around mid-way between the limits of semreittu and menaippo. Occasionally, emmeirsup can be seen trapping or hunting small game (almost always with menaippo) for materials.

In sedentary communities partaking in light farming, the roles of emmeirsup are largely unchanged, as their tasks are widely applicable across a variety of situations. The differences observed in these sedentary communities are the addition of tools and clothing/harnesses relevant to a somewhat more agricultural lifestyle, with those tools and objects applicable only to nomadic tribes often going unlearned. In these communities, emmeirsup tend to have relatively more time to work on crafts and artistic ventures than their nomadic brethren, which results in such sedentary tribes having overall more diversity in artistic style.

In modern times, these roles translate in cities and large towns to a dominance in the large majority of the trades, as well as in the visual arts. They are also highly involved in the manufacturing and fabrication sectors, occupying most of the positions. Importantly, they are seamstresses, and many have taken that further to work as storefront staff in clothing stores. It is not uncommon for most of any child' clothes to have been made by their emmeirsup parent. While the Atruosphere and Ystel (and lower South Baredina more broadly) are not terribly automated, and aren't likely to become so in the foreseeable future, some positions in large cities have very slowly begun to be replaced by robots and machinery. In these cases, emmeirsup have very quickly shifted to the roles of maintenance and operation of said machinery, as well as to the engineering and development of the technologies.

Visual arts are probably focused on by the highest proportion of emmeirsup in large urban settings, where innovations and evolution in the art scne are found alongside a still prominent traditional art focus, as traditional artstyles maintain great popularity among much of the general populace. Due to the importance of the arts to emmeirsup, during traditional war games, one of the three categories of game played involved competition between emmeirsup, often to try and outperform one another in an agreed upon discipline. Tests of specific skill in work like sewing waterproof stitches (a complex type of stitch) is also common, as are competitions involving the construction of various tools to compare their effectiveness, among many others.

Qwuumal

Qwuumal represent the single "neutral" personality, with the large majority of intersex individuals identifying as such. They are associated with academics, spirituality, medicine, selflessness, intelligence, caring, hand-eye coordination, extroversion, and leadership. In nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes, qwuumal play very important roles in the community, acting as shamans, doctors, and teachers, and are often seen as tribe or clan chiefs. Those specialising in medicine are held to a very high standard, as they perform absolutely critical services for the community with high risk in the case of mistake. Many qwuumal doctors remain highly trained in traditional medicines in the modern day, as it is seen as of equal importance to more modern medicine. Their work as shamans is also very important, as shamans not only hold a leadership role in the community, but also act as the tribe's midwives. One of their primary roles, however, is to act as teachers for the children in the tribe, requiring them to learn notable amounts regarding other gender roles, so that children may be adequately given the experiences and tools required for determining their gender at their coming of age, and for determining what they would like to specialise in as adults. On the many educational excursions they perform (often within moderate proximity of the community), qwuumal are generally tasked with foraging and fishing, or hunting small game, often for the purposes of teaching or providing hands-on experience.

In traditionally sedentary communities partaking in light farming, their roles are largely unchanged from their more nomadic brethren. The differences largely comes down to instructional matter in teaching, with crop planting, tending, and harvesting, as well as livestock care, being taught from an early age in addition to foraging and small game hunting techniques. One of the most significant differences is that in such sedentary communities, qwuumal take on a role as veterinarians of sorts for the livestock, and are expected to tend to their health and do regular check-ups should they be specialised in that role. They are found engaging in academic or theatrical activities and writing more often in sedentary tribes than in nomadic ones.

In cities and large towns, qwuumal translate these positions into much of the same roles as they traditionally held. Virtually all doctors, all non-dog veterinarians, the vast majority of teachers for children, scholars, and researchers, IT positions, and shaman roles are held by qwuumal in these settlements. They are also not uncommonly found working as lawyers or partaking in trials as expert witnesses (often for religious insight as shamans). Chiefs in urban settlements often end up qwuumal as in more rural communities, and therefore they are often active members of politics, which combined with their usual extroversion and kindness makes them very likely candidates for ambassador positions in their nations' embassies. Some also choose to go into engineering fields, or to specialise in mental health and disability care. Music scenes have developed in many of the larger cities in more modern times from work done by qwuumal.

Traditionally, the final type of war game undertaken during tribal conflict occured between qwuumal, and was often considered a test of knowledge or wits. Many competitions involve strategy games, board games not being uncommon in more northern regions, while others involve a variety of complex word games (usually with the goal of outlasting the opponent in relavent words known). While competition through strategy and knowledge-based games were the most popular traditionally, often the games chosen involved musical competition, be it through several singing games with the aim of outlasting the other in not laughing to several tests of musical memory or prowess in a decided instrument through improvisational competition. Memory games were not uncommon either, with some simply involving tribe shamans reciting history or religious stories and myths. Although uncommon, sometimes qwuumal would agree to test themselves on skills central to a different gender role which they would need to teach to children.