dwarven polyandry and other sex stuff

>>52982059
Fewer females dwarves than male dwarves can lead to some different outcomes. The first thing that springs to mind is Tibetan polyandry called fraternal polyandry. Brothers marry the same woman, which keeps wealth from being split up and each household has more workers and warriors. Apparently the oldest brother is head of the household.

To touch on the other points, rarer female dwarves does not automatically lead to matriarchal society. The dwarven women might suffer more restrictions since the chance of them dying or leaving might be great enough in the eyes of some dwarven societies to warrant it. I can see matrilineal descent being used but a general descent by a group of brothers could also be used. As for birth rates, it depends on how many kids a dwarven woman can have, gestation, and other factors.

This should give some ideas of how to do things.
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyandry_in_Tibet

>>52982059

Could we consider the possibility of eusocial dwarves? That is to say, their society is structured like hive insects? It's not unheard of in mammals (naked mole rats).

When will they learn?

>>52982205
Interesting, though the reason for this seems to be holding arable land, which doesn't translate well to underground living dwarves, maybe if we change that to dwarven holds, but this doesn't make much sense.

>>52982059
I expect a higher competition between the males and the gifts and courting traditions would quickly become a major part of the young dwarfs life.

>>52982423
Might explain both why dwarves are such good smiths (trying to woo the women) and why they frequently go off and fight balors and dragons and such (trying to impress the women).

>>52982406
Even in fantasy, underground areas that are capable of supporting life and with potential to be cultivated would probably be rare and precious, just like in the mountains.

>>52982059
The majority of human males throughout history have never bred.
It'll just be the same for the Dwarfs.
The Chadli Thundercocks get wifes while beta Dwarfs just settle for having a clan.

>>52982205
Some other ideas come to mind.

Whether the rarity of dwarven women is something new or old is big. If old, in that dwarven men have always outnumbered dwarven women, then their society would have grown with that in mind and your typical dwarf sees it as normal. If new, in that the ratio was thrown off at some point, then there can be a 'fall of dwarf' thing. Dwarven society had to change and this can lead to cynicism, apathy, or ennui. Maybe unmarried dwarven men are encouraged to be warriors as a way to expand and defend dwarven lands while also keeping them occupied and dying in combat,

>>52982059
>I find it strange that, despite being considered a manly race, dwarves appear so sexless,
This is an interesting point. You could have dwarves see sex as more a minor duty. In this case, enough dwarven men might not interested in sex as long as someone is fulfilling that duty. Or you can have familial duty that makes the problem worse.

Krogan from Mass Effect have a similar issue but in terms of healthy children being born. I remember hearing of Russia post-WWII having a large gender imbalance, so that is worth looking into.

>>52982406
The Inuits did it as well. It fits in a (food) resource scarce survival environment, which dwarves are likely to live in.

I could imagine like the inheritance system you got in some parts of Galicia where the daughter/youngest daughter inherits too, to encourage propagation of a clan in an environment where not every son will be able to find a wife. That would be the route to an (effective) matriarchy if you wanted one I think, business and industry passing down through the female line with brothers, husbands and sons being the workers and managers. You might not have women in an outright political class, or not usually, but they could have strong authority in economy. You would maybe also be looking at Icelandic-style marriage where women have free right of divorce and certain wealth is guaranteed on the break-up of a marriage.

If women are less usual then finding a wife, marriage, family are going to both more valuable and riskier.

>>52982059

>would this lead to a matriarchic society?

No. Men stil have the ''advantage'' of not having to give birth. And as Dwarves are a sedetary race they most certainly don't have a matriarchy.

>will females get more privileges or will they suffer more restrictions?

Both. Their value will rise but the men they marry will also be intensly possesive of them.
So most of them will end up as spoiled housewives like Roman Matrons.

>even considered more of a rare good than a human being?

No. They won't be rare withing Dwarven society even with a skewed 1:10 gender ratio. In the outside world however it would be very rare to see a female Dwarf.

>in case of polyandry: wouldn't this make their families matrilineal?

Look at Drow society.

>wouldn't less females make the numbers of their race grow even slower than for instance elves?

Elves have low birthrates to counteract their long lifespans so they don't run out of resources.

Dwarves have roughly half the elven population but a skewed gender ration so i'd assume they are just as fertile as humans.


In reality look at modern day China if you want to see a society with skewed gender ratio.
The men that don't manage to draw in a girl usually end up either gay or enter celibacy.

>>52982705
>Dwarves have roughly half the elven population
Meant lifespan instead of population

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I like to think that there are plenty of women around, but do just as man manly things as the male dwarves. Thus when humans or elves come to visit, they see nothing but bustling dwarves and think to themselves: "There arent any women here at all!". When in actuality they are right there under their noses in leather aprons or craftswork clothing. While they may not fit the role of combat, they would have to fill th boots of smiths, miners, jewlers, etc. The low birth rate may not be just a lack of women, but a lack of desire to be out of work for so long due to pregnancy
>I cant work for nine months! Who on earth has time for that?
>Plus I cant even fit into my work clothes! I have to wear this stupid dress...

Atleast thats how I think about it. A working society such as a dwarven one would trickle into both genders and they would put work first before playing with each others genitals, which may happen begrudgingly when theres a call for it.

>Female dwarfs face when shes called upon for offspring duty when she is halfway through a steel order