That stuff about roles sounds overstated to me. In general, Northmen in the viking period were less moralizing than was often the case in the rest of Europe - and had a lot of non-stereotypical behaviors. Personally, I was thinking more that men were rarely clean-shaven, which by itself makes androgyny more difficult. (For example, Njal of Njal's Saga was known as Njal the Beardless, which indicates that it's a rare quality - though in his case he apparently couldn't grow a beard.) Lee Gold, the author of the ICE Vikings sourcebook, wrote some about sexuality topics that she left out of her Japan and Vikings sourcebook many years ago:
https://www.conchord.org/xeno/censorship.html (the Vikings section is after Japan)
Short form she cites sources that male passive homosexuality (i.e. taking it up the butt) was looked down on -- but not active homosexuality (i.e. putting it in a guy's butt). So they might talk shit the guy taking it up the butt, but not enough to stop fucking him. Also, sorcery was seen as effeminate -- so for example, the malign sorcerer in the Laxdaela Saga was described as effeminate - similar to shapeshifting Loki or even Odin. He was not well respected by his neighbors, but similarly, not enough to drive him out or put a lawsuit against him.
I had a cross-dressing character in my old Vikings & Skraelings campaign. As I mentioned, it was officially not approved of, but it was offset by respect for other qualities.
Greetings!
Interesting article, Jhkim. I don't understand why some people do not get it--lots of people do not want to be around homosexuals; they don't want to talk about homosexual love; they don't want to discuss or explore homosexual sex in their roleplaying games. This has been a consistent reality for many, many years. Publishers don't want to publish and advertise homosexual characters, homosexual sex, and homosexual themes in the game books and modules. Doing so risks a huge drop in profit, and being trashed and ridiculed by a majority of the gaming market.
While today's SJW segment is more vocal in their love of everything homosexual--the majority of the gaming market remains dismissive, and uninterested--if not always vigorously hostile. So, even today despite somewhat more of a vocal SJW audience, the expectations and desires of the majority of the gaming market prevails--blast the homosexual theme, and risk going broke and swept into the shitter to be forgotten. That seems to be the way it is.
Furthermore, though, despite the fact that most gamers are heterosexual--there also seems to be a rather large contingent of gamers that are strictly religious, strictly focused or prefer rated G games, and or otherwise have zero desire to have any kind of sexual theme, characters, or sexual activity and so on in their games and game books, as well.
*Shrugs* Thus, the author lamenting until our "culture changes"--I wouldn't hold my breath. Our country and culture has deep, deep Puritanical roots, and as a culture, we are hopelessly and bogglingly contradictory; despite the fact that our culture is sex drenched in so many ways, from music, media, clothing, television shows with frequent sex, and on and on--as many parents lament constantly--there are other areas where our culture has fits about any mention or inclusion of sex, or sensuality. No nude beaches, no nude men; no naked men in film; sex depicted a certain way in romance books; no sex in role playing games; Shakira and Jlo cannot dance sexy at the Superbowl; and so on.
I don't expect our culture to change. We are full of contradictions and mixed passions about sex, sexuality, sensuality, naked women and naked men.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK