B.2. Female:

Women in Metamor have had the benefit of being treated as equals with men for longer than in most other societies (with the noted exception of Sathmore, which now comprises the western provinces of the Metamor Empire). While some women served in the Keeper military even before the Battle of Three Gates, the onset of the androgyne variant of the Curse demonstrated once and for all that women were capable of a lot more than most men gave them credit for. While cultural norms have shifted back and forth a bit over the years, women are nonetheless well represented in most professions in Metamor City.

There are a few cultural groups and organizations where women are noticeably dominant, or at least tend to be found in higher proportions than men:

Church of St Merai: Founded by a woman from a chapter of the Lothanasi that was dominated by women, the clergy of the Meraist church is about 65 percent female. The upper levels of church government show an even stronger discrepancy: about 80 percent of overseers are women. This is partly due to simple inertia -- Meraists unconsciously expect priestesses rather than male priests -- but it is also partly a reactionary response to the Ecclesia's insistence on a male-only priesthood.

Psi Collective: For reasons no one is quite sure of, there is a strong sex bias among individuals born with psionic abilities -- roughly two out of every three psis are women. The Psi Collective finds this to be extremely fortunate, since bearing large numbers of children is considered essential to the survival of the psi subrace. If anything, the Collective would prefer if the sex bias were greater; the optimal structure of a psi breeding cell is considered to be one male for every four or five females. A psi growing up within the Collective has probably had far more women in important roles in his or her life than men. (Interestingly, though, this sex bias actually reverses among the most powerful members of the Collective; of the 126 individuals recognized as Elders by their fellow psis, 97 are male. The cause of this is unknown, but may have something to do with the masculine tendency to focus on one talent or ability above all others and hone it to a very high level of skill.)

Rural Lutin Culture: While urban-dwelling lutins tend to be predominantly male, and follow the pro-masculine social structure of the historical "Ice tribes", most rural lutin societies are built around the feminine-centric archetype of the "Earth tribes", which were led by the tribe's Wise Woman. Lutin clans that have taken up farming or ranching no longer need Ice tribes to hunt for food and supplies, and generally develop into quite stable matriarchal societies. Most of the lutin males raised in such tribes end up moving to the city to seek their fortunes and their independence, returning to the rural homesteads only to take wives and sire children. (One noted exception is the tribal shaman, a male lutin who trains younger lutins in magic and serves as the spiritual advisor to the Wise Woman.)

Some Mages' Guilds: Just as there are some magical fraternities that are predominantly or exclusively male, so too there are some societies that focus on a feminine approach to the magical arts. Most of these guilds are quite young, no more than a century old, but there may be a few noteworthy exceptions that have been around for much, much longer...

Sensualist Guilds and the Church of Hedonism: The world's oldest profession is still largely the province of women. In large part, of course, this is due to simple laws of supply and demand: most customers who would contact a professional sex worker are looking for an encounter with a woman. Whether you're talking about a secular Sensualist Guild chapter or the succubae and human priestesses of the Church of Hedonism, most of the individuals found in this line of work will be female.