Debate!

[nick]

Alright...let's start'er up!

I want to know what you all think as to why there cannot or never has been a MALE HAD in the Pern Books.

It's really something to mull over, something to think about when you're bored! Get to it!!!!!! lmao

[Midnight]

Because Anne McCaffrey believes that women are inherently more empathetic than men. That'd be my guess.

[Zenniel]

I think that she likes girls better than boys.
Um... no, that's a joke.

Actually, I think it's because of the girl's ever changing hormones that help in the fact that only females have had HAD.

[prissy]

I think its because naturally females are more open to showing feelings than men and so in that they are more apt to be HAD than males.

[Felina]

Personally, I think she has some feminist tendencies that really show through in her writing, and McCaffrey would just be more likely to give that unique ability to females. As for females being naturally more empathic... I don't think that's the case here. Otherwise characters such as Peter Reidinger would not exist (see the Talents series), nor would Johnny Green (see most of her books), or Sean Shongili (Powers That Be series). She does have strongly empathic male characters, equally to her females, the singular exception being Dragonriders of Pern.

And even there, it could be her way of making up for the fact that females really only Impress on extremely rare occasions. This could possibly even it out.

But personally, I'd go with the feminist theory.

[Zenniel]

Yeah, poor females and their non-impressing. xD McAffrey should have made more colors that want to Impress to females... and more female colors. But then that would have been overdoing it for just books. Now, for role playing... that's where the colors could come in. <3

[nick]

Hmmm...all very interesting theories! I personally lean toward the more emotional or hormonal state of females as opposed to males...or something to that effect.

[shadowreine]

Or...it could just be that we have never *seen* a male HAD.

Robinton is pretty close, after all...probably the 'next level down' in terms of dragon sensitivity.

[nick]

Yeah...that is true. Yet with the hormones and emotions theory...Robinton was a very sensitive boy was he not?

[Kirin]

It could be completely unintentional and all the female HADs helped drive the plot in a way a male on couldn't?