Ash writes...

So this is an analysis on gender as I gathered from the Marzz arc, there are some questions at the end though.

The first notable element of gender roles within Marzz society is how for the Orthodox Martian Wedding, it is the blessing of the man's parents rather than the woman's, as is standard custom on Earth. From this flipping of roles, the basic assumption would be a relatively Matriarchal Society.

This idea in human culture at least, stemmed from the idea of the woman being given to the man's family. Which ties in nicely with the next point. This may be coincidental, but the only instances we had where a Martian's given and surnames did not match were older males (Ress Edda, Rohh Karr, Karr Mangg, Sternn Jaxx) who would likely or definitively been married, or an instance where the woman's family had disowned her (Jann Morzz). This takes the original name for Emree into account, rather than her changed name. This pattern would appear to indicate that it is customary for males to take the woman's family name when marrying.

Then we have the Altar and Canopy building ceremony, and it shows that it wasn't a simple flipping of Gender Norms for a Matriarchal Society. The Male Ceremony, the Altar Building, requires Strength and Physicality, endurance to withstand the heat of the Lava and providing hard Structure to the Altar. It is the foundation for the marriage. While the Female Ceremony, with the Canopy, is a mental task, with the challenge coming from synchronicity with family, overcoming the baggage of previous relationships to move forward and the Canopy providing shelter. This association of Male=Structure/Strength, Female=Shelter/Emotion, is a fairly standard human perception of gender.

Or so it seems, but when one considers that M'arzz is a highly Mental based society, we would assume that the mental challenge is considered more significant, fitting for that initial assumption of a matriarchy.

Now, in saying that the elephant in the room to the Matriarchal Assumption is that Sternn was the ruler of Marzz prior to his death, at which point Jarlia took over. There are two solutions that I see here; the first is that much like Earth, while Marzz developed from a matriarchy, it now doesnt possess that clear delineation and permits male rulers. The second, ties into the ideas presented in the Altar ceremony. Structure, is perceived as a masculine trait by the religious orthodoxy, and structure is rather necessary for a society. So it stands to reason that the leader is seen as one who provides Structure; the male leader, while still having that perception of women as more responsible for other facets of Shelter within a society.

This leads to some more speculative interpretation of the Yellonn. Ceridyall, a Goddess, appears to be most significant - or at least most significant for the elements of Marzz society which we see. The most prominent Yellonn we see is a woman, while there are certainly Priests as well, it would make some sense if the "pope" of the Yellonn, as a key representative of Ceridyall, were a woman in turn. So this leads to the idea that the Matriarchy comes from the Theology.

With how the Yellonn perform that birthday inaugeration ceremony (which features Life in the form of animals, life being an aspect of Ceridyall), and how they present Jemm into a lineage of great rulers, it appears that the Yellonn are essentially recognised as giving authority to the crown - the Male Government is given its power by the Female Faith.

With that, I turn to questions.

1) You had recently (as of writing) said that the Yellonn were supposed to remain apolitical. This would seem to go against the interpretation that the Yellonn are the power that grants the Blahdenn authority; but given that the Yellonn are involved in the coronation for Jemm, this seemed to be a political matter, rather than apolitical involvement. So I'm curious towards how you resolve their apoliticalness with their involvement in seemingly poltical events.

2) "His, her or their", simple but effective in conveying that the Orthodoxy is at least partially supportive of a nonbinary view of gender. However, given the seeming gender segregated roles of the Altar and Canopy building, I was curious to how "they"s fit into the wedding schema. If there were a nonbinary facet akin to the Altar/Canopy which represents ideals that the Orthodoxy holds towards nonbinary individuals, a component which is left out of weddings not featuring a nonbinary individual (just as the component of the gendered individual is left out accordingly in the enby wedding presumably) or must they decide on a gendered role to perform?

3) Similarly, with the gendered Altar and Canopy, how would same-sex marriages (if they are permitted), function? Would a wedding have two Canopies or are there different traditions to accommodate (assuming they are accommodated at all)?