Talk:The Heart/Quotes/@comment-49.144.212.154-20130617093109/@comment-27202257-20130627080926

Well damn! This one got long.

Essie and Masterforger are right on the money with this one. A big point is made Gristol is a male-dominated society, even if it's not said outright (as is consistent with real-world power dynamics). Women, by and large, are to be found in subservient roles in "legitimate" society: maids, servants, prostitutes. Men, meanwhile, serve in roles of greater esteem and power, such as Parliamentarians, Generals, Regents, etc. While there are men in these subservient roles, they are few and far between, and the reverse can be said for positions of high esteem. There also doesn't seem to be any strict limits of men's employment, whereas women are specifically barred from work in some professions.

While it's not literally impossible for a woman to come to power--which we see with Jessamine--it's obviously a struggle to maintain. There is a point to be made by the fact that, in a government almost entirely dominated by men, the one woman there is dubbed too politically inconvenient and murdered.

That's not to say that women are utterly powerless in the world of Dishonored, but it's a power they attain by working around and without the "legtimate" society. Black Sally, Lizzy Stride, and Billie Lurk (and to a degree, Abigail Aimes) all reach their potential through lives of crime; Lady Boyle and Thalia Timsh use their financial influence and good fortune to manipulate the political landscape to their liking; Delilah and the Brigmore witches manipulate those in power with black magic; even Jessamine and Emily could be said to work outside the system in their way, as we get hints from Sokolov and the Outsider that they are somehow different. One also shouldn't be compelled to say that women in subservient positions have no power at all--we see how Lydia refuses to take crap from anyone, and how Callista ends up influencing the Empire as a whole through her relationship with Emily. But in terms of political power and domination, it seems like that rests squarely in the hands of men, even with an Empress on board.

As to Geoff Curnow's sexuality, well. We know about marriages between people of different nations, and while they are shameful, it seems they can still be talked about. For a man as honorable as Curnow to kill someone--there would have to be some pretty serious risk involved if he didn't.