Subject: Sangheilology
Author:
Posted on: 2013-10-19 00:32:00 UTC

I only had time to skim the story so I can't provide an in-depth answer to every question (I am, in fact, reading through A Cage Of Butterflies right now!), but regarding Elites and physical intimacy:

Sangheili culture is extremely conservative, but that in and of itself indicates that the Elites have something to be conservative about- I know for a fact that Elites do... "couple" to produce offspring, and that there are males and females different enough for humans to differentiate them on sight*. They do have institutions of marriage, although some Elites are described as having multiple wives and others as monogamous (I think this varies depending on regional subculture). However, certain "swordsman"** Elites with significant martial prowess are allowed to spread their genes... basically wherever: whether that means they are simply exempt from monogamy or exempt from consent is something I don't want to think about.

More to the point, there is little to no information on canon Sangheili attitudes towards homosexuality, or even if such a thing exists in their neurology. Furthermore, the actual... "mechanics" of producing more Elites are anybody's guess. What is known is that while they do in fact have a nudity taboo, males don't appear to possess external genitalia.


*Sangheili appear to have a patriarchal culture, but the sheer size of their all-male military makes me think that the biological ratio of male to female Elites is highly skewed as well.

**There are mentions of "swordswomen" and female Weapon Masters existing in Sangheili history, but that the positions are males-only now. This, interestingly, implies that the creation of "gender roles" in Elite culture is a relatively new development, perhaps originating from the Covenant?

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