Quote Originally Posted by Rosenstrauch View Post
Well, that bit about Viera genitalia is not at all what I expected would be the case. I guess they are rabbits, after all, so it makes... some sense. It's a bit of a mindscrew to imagine, though, and I'm not sure I even want to.
I'd seen in a documentary some time ago that there's an actual intersex condition where someone can be genetically male but appears female at birth and won't develop until puberty - so it's not as implausible as it immediately sounds. Whether the writers are aware of this or it's a happy coincidence, it's a good enough explanation for me.

I do have to wonder what the whole business would do to their mindset though - growing up knowing they're going to have to take up very strict gender roles but not having any idea which one they'll get. And are children thought of as genderless or is everyone considered female by default, until someone develops as a male?

Would they even have a concept of gender stereotypes or is it just "I am a man so I live alone in the woods", "I am a woman so I live in the village", and what the genders do is whatever they need to survive in their designated places?

And what sort of mental adjustment would it be to leave the forest and encounter other cultures?

On the one hand, despite (or because of) their androgynous appearance they might be very aware of presenting as the right gender, because their culture places such importance on it - "I am a man and I am not alone in the woods, so how am I supposed to indicate this? Dress a particular way?"

Or it could go entirely the other way - "I am not living alone in the woods, so I should act like the village-dwelling gender."