The Bene Gesserit Seamstresses of the 'Verse

[trinityvixen]

A link kindly provided to me by linaerys about the class conflict in Firefly/Serenity has been eating my brain for the past twenty minutes because, being bored as nuts around work, I am doing nothing but thinking on a plot bunny I plucked from my brain last week and how to work it out. It's not what the article itself talks about that I've been considering

Comments

[anonymous]

I'm really excited that my post has generated some debate.

That's a really good idea about how the guild could work, but I think there's evidence in the shooting script (and the deleted scenes), that it doesn't work that way. When talking to Inara another woman says that all the students "are from the best families".

My perspective is slightly different from yours, since I'm a historian who doesn't read that much sci-fi, so my comparison is generally other historical societies. Historically I'm not sure I can think of any examples where free training was given by a private organisation that would give them the opportunity for a career that didn't just give them financial security, but high status. We see no evidence about whether they are trained for free, or whether they pay for their training. But given that to get in they have to come from the best families I'd say that, at very least, they'd pay some money in.

[trinityvixen]

There is no perfect example of a free internship in the past that was coupled with the prestige one might enjoy after completion. A few things come close, and probably should be assimilated into the Guild construct to make it work

[anonymous]

Sorry I didn't mean to be anonymous - I'm maia who wrote the original post (I'm just a little bit new to the livejournal thing).

I agree that either of those could be ways the Guild work, and that we'll probably never know for sure how it works now. I just generally don't find it plausible. Which I might have if it was spelled out, but since it wasn't I don't think I'll be able to be convinced.

[trinityvixen]

The problem, I find, is, as another person stated, why, in an age where women aren't discriminated against, some would chose prostitution. There will always be the disadvantaged who will resort to prostitution for money, but the question becomes when there are outlets for women to work as professionals alongside men, why any would chose to do high-class prostitution. Lack of opportunity or discrimination not being factors, they should be able to apply themselves to other courses of study and get just as far based on talent and aptitude.

I think this is one of the most problematic pieces of the 'verse, the most fantastical next to the method of including the Chinese elements (that American and China merge I have less problem with than the how they have come together--which aspects are run according to Chinese precepts/principles/doctrines and which aren't). The idea of the high-class hooker in a society that doesn't prevent women from using similar talents towards different professions is a bit unrealistic.

[inkandalchemy]

Got here via someone's link (can't even remember whose, now) and found it fascinating reading, as I'm big into all three of those fandoms and have always wondered about the similarities/lack thereof.

The thing about Companions is that, at least in my mind, prostitution isn't necessarily their primary function. It's a part of what they do, surely, and it's the part that gets the most mention on the show given that it's what most irks Mal about Inara - but things like Inara's beautiful gowns, or her tea service, or her comment to Sheydra about how she was trained for years before the physical act was even mentioned, remind me MUCH more of the old Japanese geishas. Sex was a part of what they did, but more than that they were guardians of culture, and every bit as high class as Companions are in the 'verse. You don't hire a Companion for sex; you could get that at any of the better un-registered brothels for a fraction of the price. You hire a Companion for the experience she can provide, for her wit and charm and intelligence and

[trinityvixen]

I'm flattered you enjoyed this. Going back over my verbal babbling, I realize there's a lot going on but not much being said

[trinityvixen]

(...continued from above...)

And just how important is sex anyway? I do not disagree that we are biased by Mal's opinion--as our sometimes narrator and always hero--that Inara is primarily a sex worker. However, there are parts of both Firefly and Serenity (mostly in deleted scenes for the latter, but definite canon for the former) that are not guided or formed based on Mal's point of view. For instance, unrelated to this discussion perhaps but very illustrative of my point, there are the flashbacks to Simon's past that are not points of reference any but he or River would have access to among the crew of Serenity. Throughout "Safe," Mal is preoccupied with his job and saving Shepherd Book, so he would not be in a place to have these stories related to him and thus be in a position to filter the information for us, the viewers.

Understood that way, we can then see that the rest of the series is not dependent upon Mal's opinion for us to form our own, and it is very hard to conclude that sex is not in fact essential to a Companion's

[londonkds]

few men or women who can control their bodies to the point where they can infect a rapist with a crippling, incurable STD that was stored in the victim's body for just such a purpose

Tim Minear made remarks at an event recently which hint that that was *exactly* what was going on when Inara was toying with a hypodermic when threatened with Reavers in the pilot.

[trinityvixen]

I've heard about this 'missing episode' plot device, and frankly, I'm glad it isn't canon. Even if Tim and Joss think it should have been, the whole sketch of the episode was so irredeemably repugnant that I couldn't hardly imagine still watching and liking the show afterwards. Part of the reason Firefly retains the fans and keeps them devoted is the way it managed to exist without making any serious missteps, but this must be attributed as much to the natural talent of the authors as to the fact it was cancelled before the ideas could run afoul of the audience.

On the one hand, I don't have a problem with Inara's syringe containing such a poison--I hardly think the twin imperatives of Companions, which seem to be hedonism and altruism, would be in sync with suicide, even suicide to prevent a violent death. On the other, ugh the idea that Inara being gang-raped by Reavers? What were they thinking?

[londonkds]

I have the same reaction to that proposed episode.

[trinityvixen]

Honestly, while irrevocably ruining a character on the show would have been within the reality of the 'verse being a not-so-happy place to live, it could have been done more tactfully. Plus, maybe it's just me, but it seems like an unconscious punishment of the sexually liberated woman. Maybe that's reading too much into it, seeing as Kaylee is fairly liberated, too, but Inara is the only one on the series who makes no compromises in her sexual partners--she is utterly in control of her every encounter, and it seems that this proposed episode which targets her is almost a condemnation of that.

[conuly]

scars and disfiguration do not qualify as 'average'

No, but some scars can be considered attractive - signs of an interesting life.

[trinityvixen]

You are right, of course, but keep in mind the popular wisdom is that scars look good more on men than women. Few men would probably find scars that bordered disfiguration attractive in that reason. It would severely limit the client base, might even lead to problems if clients were not satisfied with a Companion's looks.

[conuly]

Popular wisdom, as often, is wrong. But duly noted.

[trinityvixen]

I'm just keeping my thought processes in the realm of 'likely' and 'probably' when I reason. No, it's not foolproof, but I tend to reason more or less along the lines of the majority. It would seem that most rich people would want to be surounded by beautiful, flawless things (as they're the only ones who can afford them), but there are very probably a few who would enjoy someone with battle scars/history to entertain them at a Companion's salary.

It's just that then you have to multiply that fraction by the fraction of those applying that the Companion herself would accept, and it gets to be so small a number that I'm not sure a Companion could maintain his/her style of living at that point.

[stakebait]

If illegitimacy either still exists or has an equivilent, one major source of recruiting might be the illegitimate children of the wealthy, since Companion training would give them a respected status in the world of their parents *and* remove a potential embarassment/expense. Kind of like a nunnery in the middle ages. And I would think middle class children would be another rich source (poor enough to need an apprenticeship in a gainful trade, rich enough to aspire to one with opportunities for upward mobility

[trinityvixen]

I have my doubts about illegitimacy existing in the 'verse. For one, the issue of monarchies seems to be a joke--in "Serenity," Mal says on whim that he'd love to be "king of all Londinium" as a parallel to an equally unfulfillable wish of Kaylee's. Not direct proof, granted, but something to consider. Where there are still monarchies on Earth, the issue of legitimacy amongst the citizens is still a major concern--and those deemed to be not worthy (as has plagued the empress of Japan until recently, I believe) are often treated extremely harshly. I don't doubt that Mal's dislike of the Alliance would lead him to snipe about the monarchy if there were such a system, but I don't think the passing references to possibly such a system existing are proof that it does (Sir Warwick Harrow, for instance, might have been knighted but that doesn't mean there is a king to have done it--it may be a relic from the Sino part of the Sino-American Alliance

[stakebait]

Interesting point about the monarchies -- I never made the connection. I was thinking that they still have inherited money and power, and therefore illegitimacy would likely be an issue as regards inheritance.

I don't think the Companions autonomy can be totally absolute -- we have the example of Inara's friend, who quit the Guild because she found it too confining, and of Inara implying that any romantic relationship with Mal would be frowned on -- not just because he's the captain, I got the impression, but because ongoing romantic relationships themselves were viewed with suspicion, if not outright forbidden.

It seems to me if the Guild involves itself in romance it is quite likely to involve itself in childbearing, which is even more likely to impact Companions' ability to work, but requiring birth control or temporary reversible sterilization are more likely than permanent. And your point, about a form of surrogate motherhood as a possible Companion function, is even more fascinating.

[trinityvixen]

You're absolutely right about the romantic entanglements being controlled in some respect. Inara says it would be complicated for her to simply date someone, which may be one method of controlling Companions right there--when the Companion wants for company, she must satisfy it in her work. That might be the guiding method of the Guild, in fact--finding your own satisfaction in providing and receiving the pleasure of others. The fact that you would not then be able to pursue a relationship outside of a client-worker basis seems most unfair as that would, ideally, be the same thing (you'd want to be in the relationship for the give and take and exchange). I can only assume that it is curtailed to save confusion and keep people from attempting to romance Companions for free (as was the problem with certain whore houses in ancient Japan, where lotharios would try to make the whores love them so that they'd basically make themselves unsellable to other clients when they'd give their lovers tokens of their affection like fingers). The