Humma Family Structure

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
October 6, 2012 - 1:11pm
So when I first read Zebulon's Guide way back when it came out, I saw the description of Humma reproduction and noticed that it wuld never work.  The same problem existed later on Star Trek Voyager with the Ocampa.  Every couple has 1 child??  How the heck are they not extinct?

I like the solutions I've seen in these forums and in the Humma literature you guys have put out there.

Here is the direction I took it decades ago:

Once a young female Humma gives birth, she does not undergo the transition right away.  The change takes approximately 2 years, starting from the time of the birth.  During that time, if she mates again, she could get pregnant again.  Thus, the transition can be delayed, as long as the female keeps getting pregnant.

If the female gives birth, and does not get pregnant again within the 2 year window of opportunity, the transition occurs, and the female becomes a male.

Although many Humma only have 1 child, some Humma manage to have 5 or 6 children.  Twins and triplets are rare, but do happen sometimes.

Because of high-tech advancements and drugs, the Humma have also devised a way to delay the transition indefinitely.
Comments:

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
October 10, 2012 - 6:37pm

Humma do not have families the way we understand them. 

An older male finds a younger female (such pairings are often arranged by their Houses), and they mate.  The young female gives birth.  She then becomes a male.  Then, as a male, he seeks out a new female to mate with.  He is still legally bonded to the male that fathered his first child, and they are still raising that mutual child.  But now he is expected to continue the line, and so now he is the father of his 2nd child.  This is how the Houses work.  Each House is a quasi-family with a neverending stair-step structure.  Every individual Humma parent is linked to the older spouse before it, in an unending chain.  Each parent is like a generation by itself.

Several of these "generations" live together in one household - female children, the young female parent, the older male parent, the male parent's previous partner (who is like a young grandparent or uncle now), and any other prior male or neuter partners, and so on.

Gender roles as we know them would be alien to the Humma.  They would see females as young and naive, and would see males as experts in the ways of childbirth.  Experienced Humma midwives would all be male.  Neuter individuals would be seen as wise and tough.  After all, how many Humma survive into old age?

The concept of homosexuality as unusual would not exist, since the Humma have to go through a relationship with someone who changes gender! 


rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
October 6, 2012 - 3:25pm
Going to have to challenge the idea of the Humma not having homosexuals. Homosexuality is not about sex but about people who form a love bond that is celebrated through sexual intimacy with members of the same sex. Even though the Humma change sexes this does not mean individuals would want to have sex with members of the opposite sex.

The Humma form of homosexuality would probably go that as females they desire other females and then when they change to males they desires males as partners.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
October 7, 2012 - 2:26pm
I was thinking that they would form bonds with individuals, and the gender would be irrelevant because it was subject to change anyway.

jedion357's picture
jedion357
October 7, 2012 - 2:55pm
I think the older neuters might use sexuality to attract and control younger males- its a form of control women use in human society so why not in humma? males are rough and aggressive naturally in humma for which we can chalk it up to hormones and a homosexual relationship might be very stormy and prone to violence and such just based off their racial description. I would side with rattraveller that you might get some individuals forming a strong bond that persists beyond the tradition of one of the individubals from female to male. I would bet the humma even have a name for this perhpas even legend and tales that stress the importance of conforming to the racial norm and preserving the house and perpetuating the species.

Back to the neuters- I could see a neuter using sex and being compliant to a sexual romp to control young aggressive males- with females at a premium and a need to control the rowdy males why not- it would not be about the sex or secuality of the acti for the neuter just about control.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
October 7, 2012 - 5:28pm
Exactly Jedion. This is what happens in prison systems. Inmates who are normally heterosexual change and use sexual acts to control and dominate other inmates. This happens in both male and female prisons.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

jedion357's picture
jedion357
October 7, 2012 - 6:33pm
rattraveller wrote:
Exactly Jedion. This is what happens in prison systems. Inmates who are normally heterosexual change and use sexual acts to control and dominate other inmates. This happens in both male and female prisons.


Happens in real world a lot too.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
October 10, 2012 - 6:15pm
I think we're saying the same thing here.

To them, homosexuality would not be considered abnormal, it would be a normal part of every relationship.  The gender becomes irrelevant, because it changes.  Every male is also female (because every male WAS female at one point).  There would be no concept of, "oh I was born the wrong gender" or anything like that.  If you're a Humma, you just do it with anyone.

Every Humma is both heterosexual & homosexual, so if you asked one if it was gay, it would say "WTF are you talking about" and kick you in the nuts.

bossmoss's picture
bossmoss
October 10, 2012 - 6:35pm
My actual point was the unusual structure of a typical Humma family.

Yes, they would absolutely use sex as a form of domination & control, no matter what gender anybody is.  In fact, I've always had them be rather obsessed with sex.  After all, they have a dull sense of touch - so Humma sex is probably a bit rough & violent.