#yes i know anmp is happening again in like four days but i have the patience and self control of a pigeon

[the-quiet-fire-of-defiance]

Some Gender Headcanons On the Eldar:

In my opinion, the close proximity of the Amani elven cultures to each other lead to a lot of cultural exchange and overlap in certain areas. So although gender carries different significance for the Vanyar vs the Noldor vs the Teleri (for example, we know that in Noldorin culture it’s usually men who cook but women who make bread) their concept of gender and classification systems are pretty much the same.

Eg, fa’afafine / leiti / vakasalewalewa / ’akava’ine are words from different Pacific islands but all refer to essentially the same concept; multiple culturally distinct Native American tribes who had frequent contact with each other all recognised five genders pre-colonisation; and so on.

But the elves of Beleriand diverge culturally from their Amani counterparts the moment that the two groups part, because we know that there’s no communication between them. So their cultural development and concepts of gender head down different paths. In a similar fashion, some groups of Avari separated earlier in the Great Journey and remain relatively isolated during the First Age (especially those who never enter Beleriand).

So what are their actual gender systems? I haven’t quite pinned down my thoughts on that yet, except that Valinor doesn’t really have much of a concept of genderfluidity. It’s much more commonplace and understood on the other side of the sea. In Laiquendi culture, they conceive of all gender as fluid to a degree (but that fluidity looks different for every person). They have beautiful swirling dances inspired by the fluidity of gender.

I also hc that the Haladin have three genders; man, woman and bigender. Bigender people often have special roles in spiritual rituals. Haleth herself is bigender, and thus their spiritual leader as well as a social one. There are many more customs around gender for the Edain, but I’ll give them their own post.