[Dragaera] Gender imbalance in the Jhereg [No Spoilers]

[Michael Wojcik]

Philip Hart wrote:
> On Fri, 16 Feb 2007, Will Frank wrote:
>> Vlad isn't a Dragaeran. He thinks of the Jhereg and the Organization
>> as the same thing because from his perspective, they all are. Double
>> for Kelly and company.
> 
> Vlad's smart enough to distinguish between a group he works for and
> the House he belongs to;

But he may not care to do so; and he particularly may not care to do so
while dictating his memoirs.

> if he meets a random Jhereg it may be a matter
> of life or death to him.

It *might* be, but I suspect the probability is rather low.  Aside from
when he was on the run - and we have data from only two very brief
episodes during that period - most members of the Organization were not
likely to spontaneously attack him.  And I don't see why non-members
couldn't be a potential threat, though admittedly a less-probable one.

So the security value of vigilantly distinguishing between the groups
doesn't appear to be very great.

> Kelly and Co aren't stupid, either, and the legal standing of a particular
> Jhereg is of great interest to them.

At times, perhaps, but I don't think this is significant as evidence 
against Handless Jhereg.

A Marxist revolutionary would generally be aware of the legal
differences in various forms of the repressive state apparatus (the
police, the army, etc), but for rhetorical purposes it would often be
more convenient to gloss over those differences, particularly when
rousing the rabble or making theoretical generalizations during an
argument with an ideological opponent.  Those are the two registers in
which we hear Kelly and most of his comrades speak.

-- 
Michael Wojcik