The Realm is a matriarchy, as is the majority of Creation. For the most part, the legendary rulers of Creation... Merlinda, and after her, several Shoguns and the of course the mighty Scarlet Empress... have been female. Does that mean that women are all ripped bodybuilders, chugging down beers, while petite and effeminate menfolk tend the kitchens and raise the young? Not exactly! This article is meant to clarify exactly what gender means for people in the world of Exalted.

This article primarily applies to the Realm, but many other areas of Creation pattern themselves from the expectation of the First Age 'Mother Culture', so matriarchal government in relatively common. In particular, Greyfalls is strongly influenced by the Culture of the Realm and aspires to mirror it in most circumstances.

Sexism usually involves a magnification of negative traits while a similar magnification of positive traits take place simultaneously. Gender roles don't really reverse, in Exalted, or even particularly change. Cultures just place different value upon various character traits which are already innate to the two sexes.

For example, let's take a paragon of our culture - the stereotypical 'Jock'. Think marine, or football player. In our culture, he can embody many virtues. He is Brave, Strong, Fierce, and Competitive.

In Greyfalls, it's not that women occupy this role (though of course some women might). It's that the man is judged more harshly. He might be considered foolish instead of brave... brutish instead of strong... bloodthirsty instead of fierce... or an immature glory-hound instead of competitive.

Both cultures are looking at the same individual. They just value (or devalue) them in a different fashion.

Sexist 'common knowledge' probably focuses upon negative masculine traits which are magnified to become attributed to all men... just like, in our culture, all blonde women are often perceived by sexists as being stupid.

ALL men probably drink too much. ALL men think with the brain located in their groin. ALL men can be distracted too easily by rage, or sex, or vendetta. They ultimately never achieve the emotional maturity that women do. The male mind just can't quite do it. They are always eternal teenagers.

Meanwhile, women are viewed through a similarly distorted lens. Women are usually quicker than men, being smaller, thus they are superior in the martial arts. Women are generally more clever, in subjects such as art and mathematics. Women understand temperance to a greater degree. Women truly understand responsibility, being tied to the family structure in such an intimate way through childbirth. Women are superior artists, because they have patience and dedication. Women are superior leaders, because they are more intuitive and ruthless. Women are loyal, and society accepts female promiscuity as a harmless 'wandering heart'; men are sluts, and society views a promiscuous male as they might view a stupid dog which humps any leg that comes near, driven only by base instinct.

The Scarlet Empress is a great example of all of the 'female' virtues that Greyfalls probably values.

If you want an evenheaded, qualified individual to lead your army or construction project... common knowledge suggests you want a woman. Men can handle complicated tasks, certainly, but in the end the 'Male Nature' will shine through and you'll find your foreman screwing some of the help or coming to work drunk one day. You asked for it!

Outside of the Realm and Greyfalls, attitude vary considerably, but unlike our 'real world'... where anthropological records reveal that ninety-nine percent of all ancient cultures were patriarchal in nature... a slight majority of cultures in Exalted pattern themselves on the ancient ideal of female-to-female property inheritance. In many of these places, the passage of time has altered cultural expectation from the First Age 'norm' into a myriad of confusing customs and behaviours. In other regions, where conditions are too harsh to allow otherwise, sexism can almost vanish... often replaced by pragmatic expectation of the 'ownership' of the household tasks required to eke out existance. Strongly sexist patriarchies exist as well, but they are somewhat rare, owing to the fairly recent example of the Empress (One of the few worldwide personas of this age). Most of these cultures are Western or Southern, though the Scavenger Lands is cosmopolitan enough to have a few unusual communities that believe in this way as well.