Re: Inherently Reflexive Verbs (was: mental masturbation)

On Thu, 3 Jun 1999, FFlores wrote:

>=20
> I was wondering if you meant being with a girl *in the haystack*,
> but I'd better leave that out. :)
>=20
No, I was quite accurate in that sentence. I'm bound to
produce an embarrasing typo now and then, but this wasn't
one of them.

> I know female researchers would have more chances in principle,
> but the Dr=E1selhadh are male-centered on this respect -- women are
> not usually found outside their households, let alone asking
> people personal questions.  The best chance for a researcher
> lady would be getting employed in a house with many servants,
> where she could take down notes and listen carefully and gossip
> a bit every day. A woman that inspires respect might be able to
> talk to the lady of the house and get some info, but not on such
> intimate details. And she couldn't possibly research on men's
> customs at the same time -- she wouldn't be taking seriously.
>=20
I like the idea of smuggling someone in as a servant: that ought
to also give some idea of the difference between the servants
language usage and that of their masters (if there's one, of
course), and might add some interesting cultural facts.=20

> My best chance, I guess, would be sending researchers of both
> sexes, in couples, who'll be pretending they don't know each
> other. Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do.
>=20
Wouldn't it work if they were married and both of good status?
Perhaps they'd get invited together, then?

(I've got it easy - except for the job of emperor and the=20
state of eunuch, there's no restriction on the scope of
women in Charya. Both the current institution of emperor
and the presence of eunuchs are relics from the Matraian
empire, which didn't really believe the female half of
the population to be human. The whole subject is rather
complex, but the gist of it is that you can't take the
emperor and his court as typical for the Charyan culture.)


Boudewijn Rempt  | http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt