"... where you could have multiple successive phases of family-building and work, and family-building again, on the scale of decades..."
That was one of the things I liked about Bujold's Sharing Knife series, though I thought the series was a failed experiment overall.
The extended lives of her Lakewalkers meant that Lakewalkers could spend what would be, for a Farmer, a lifespan raising a family, and then have another lifespan as a soldier -- and, if they survived that, go on to another phase afterwards. Not "what do you want to be when you grow up," but "what do you want to be *this phase*?"
I admit, I like Cordelia's "now he's monogamous" retort. I didn't see it as her confusing the spectrums of gender sexuality and mono/poly sexuality.
When I first read Barrayar, I understood her retort as Cordelia turning the tables on Vordarian. Vordarian thought he was striking a blow against his political opponent by driving a wedge between Aral and his wife: shock the little woman while she's pregnant and vulnerable, make her doubt her husband, sow contention in the Vorkosigan camp. Completely forgetting that as a Betan Cordelia was, on any scale Vordarian understood, un-shockable.
At the time, I took "now he's monogamous" to mean that Cordelia was unconcerned whether Aral was tempted to be unfaithful with men or with women: the point was that he chose to be faithful.
In light of new events, I'm wondering whether "now he's monogamous" might have meant, "for this phase." During those years there would have been room for nothing more than regency and raising Miles and Gregor. But Cordelia, who was used to the Betan idea of multiple life phases, could have recognized that in another phase that might not be the case. And still turned the tables on Vordarian, denying him his contention within the Vorkosigan camp, and also withholding information that Vordarian could use for similar attacks.
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momijizukamori and
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Date: 2015-10-25 11:57 am (UTC)That was one of the things I liked about Bujold's Sharing Knife series, though I thought the series was a failed experiment overall.
The extended lives of her Lakewalkers meant that Lakewalkers could spend what would be, for a Farmer, a lifespan raising a family, and then have another lifespan as a soldier -- and, if they survived that, go on to another phase afterwards. Not "what do you want to be when you grow up," but "what do you want to be *this phase*?"
I admit, I like Cordelia's "now he's monogamous" retort. I didn't see it as her confusing the spectrums of gender sexuality and mono/poly sexuality.
When I first read Barrayar, I understood her retort as Cordelia turning the tables on Vordarian. Vordarian thought he was striking a blow against his political opponent by driving a wedge between Aral and his wife: shock the little woman while she's pregnant and vulnerable, make her doubt her husband, sow contention in the Vorkosigan camp. Completely forgetting that as a Betan Cordelia was, on any scale Vordarian understood, un-shockable.
At the time, I took "now he's monogamous" to mean that Cordelia was unconcerned whether Aral was tempted to be unfaithful with men or with women: the point was that he chose to be faithful.
In light of new events, I'm wondering whether "now he's monogamous" might have meant, "for this phase." During those years there would have been room for nothing more than regency and raising Miles and Gregor. But Cordelia, who was used to the Betan idea of multiple life phases, could have recognized that in another phase that might not be the case. And still turned the tables on Vordarian, denying him his contention within the Vorkosigan camp, and also withholding information that Vordarian could use for similar attacks.