Childhood
Now that we see
how the Gorn exists as a people lets take a look at the
young and how they are raised. As mentioned in the first
section, Gorn are born from eggs. Various communities to
raise these young Gorn use the old Gorn. Since Gorn in
their old age, do not lose their mental facilities, they
are considered the perfect teachers of the young.
The family
structure of the Gorn is very loose. Few is any Gorn
truly know who their parents where, with the exception
of the royal family of Ghdar. When the eggs are laid the
female moves on to other pursuits and the community
raises the young Gorn.
The family
units a Gorn grows to know are very broad. The Clutch,
is the group of Gorn all born in the same community
within about a month of each other. These are the Gorn
the child spends most of its first 10 years with the
closest thing to family a Gorn knows. The Clan is the
community a Gorn grows up in. These are his teachers and
his early role models. They shape the ideals of the Gorn
child. The pack is the Gorn one works with. They can be
shipmates, school chums or co-workers in a factory.
The Clan
educates the Gorn child until the age of 10. In this
time the young Gorn will receive the equivalent of a
college education and have a good sense of what he wants
to do with his life. At the age of ten the Gorn is put
through the Rite of Passage. This ceremony marks the end
of his childhood and the beginning of being an adult.
The first
step of the Rite is the removal of the tail from the
Gorn. It seems that the Ghdar decided long ago that the
tail of a Gorn was a sign of their animal roots and
childhood. Hence at the age of 10 the Gorn has the tail
removed. Even today this practice is still performed
with this being an indication of adulthood.
However
recently a small trend has grown on Gihdahr, where some
females have decided that the tail will be left on. This
is looked down on by the Gorn as a society, seen as an
attempt to keep childhood. However another aspect less
spoken of is the vulgarity of the tail. It seems that in
an adult female the tail is actually a part of the
anatomy that a male Gorn finds most arousing, hence
walking around with the tail in full growth and exposed
is much like a human female running around all day in a
bikini.
Once the
tail has been removed the Gorn picks his adult name.
Until now any name used for him was considered that of a
child. His first decision as an adult is to identify
himself to all others. He must do this, as the Gorn feel
it is not their right to choose the path or the person
another Gorn should become.
Now the young Gorn
determines his path, be it more schooling to be a
scientist, entering the labor force, joining space
command or entering the political arena. The Gorn's life
is now his own and his path is totally his choice.
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