"Lady" title for female Sith

[Kaydenloss]

"The term "Sith Lord" generally encompassed members of both sexes, although some female Sith, such as Lumiya and Olaris Rhea, were styled Sith Lady."

 

-Wookieepedia

 

Ofcourse in some of the EU, exceptions are made, but these are only 2/3 out of all Sith Lords.

Meaning it has been done, doesn't mean its a good idea for this game, or that it was a good idea for the lore to begin with.

 

Hell luckily it isn't otherwise we'd have the Yuuzahn Vong running around in Korriban.

[Korrigan]

Hell luckily it isn't otherwise we'd have the Yuuzahn Vong running around in Korriban.

I guess that why we have Killicks running around on Alderaan when they are supposed to have left that planet definitively centuries ago...

 

Anyway, 19 people for the suggestion and 7 people against it so far, not counting the people who didn't give a clear opinion of course.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Korrigan

[bmwfive]

This is painful...

Giving females special titles is like saying they are better than males, or worse than males.

Nothing good can come up from making either gender special..

History repeating it self...

I prefer to consider myself equal to men, not as something special.

 

As for that, why then don't we have Jedi knightess, since knight is male title?

Or commandess, since commando is male title?

Or bounty huntress, cause...?

I still fail in understanding the point.

 

Yeah, and thousands of people who play the game and don't reply on forum...

(Logging out in attempt to load my LORDS...)

[Brambline]

I fully support the OP's point. It makes me wince every time my character is referred to as "Lord" and find that it alienates me as a female player. It's bad enough NPCs are saying "Sir" all the time. :-( I really don't care if it's an old tradition from the military or not. It feels very irritating to hear them say that. Let alone have the title. My female characters are not men and if there were the dialogue option to [slap in the face] after an NPC called her "Lord" or "Sir", I'd certainly choose it.

 

I would much prefer "Lady" thank you very much.

 

Also please change the dialogue text of one quest givers who says "You look like the kind of MAN who could go for some extra credits" or something along those lines. Was in one of the early Sith areas.

[Forkrul]

This is painful...

Giving females special titles is like saying they are better than males, or worse than males.

Nothing good can come up from making either gender special..

History repeating it self...

I prefer to consider myself equal to men, not as something special.

 

You are different, not better or worse (though in some aspects either gender is better or worse than the other). To draw a real life comparison I suppose we should say King Elizabeth as well? After all, we wouldn't want her to feel special compared to men.

Edited February 6, 2012 by Forkrul

[RowanThursday]

/signed for this as an option.

 

As far as the lore issue goes... maybe the most likely rationalisation is that the situation described regarding Lord/Lady in the Court of Appeal would apply in the Sith Empire- i.e. the official title is 'Lord', and quite a few female Sith just shrug and go with that... but some may respond to being addressed as "My Lord" with *Lightning*... "That's *My Lady*, thank you, Mr NPC".

[Jandi]

Lord, like Sir, in SW universe is gender neutral. It's no different from Jedi Master, or do you also demand Jedi Mistress titles? How out of place that would be lol Additionally, all the VO's address men and women as lords so it wouldn't make much sense. Don't get me wrong though, I have nothing against it really, I don't give 2 coppers what your title is but from a gameplay pov, I don't see the point.

[Elzebet]

How many men would play a Sith if they were forced to have a female title like "Lady or Mistress"? Ok there you have it, that's how we feel about it.

 

How would guys feel if every NPC they talked to addressed them as "Madame or Milady?" Would you even play the game? So why not have female titles? Honestly I am tired of games assuming that female players don't exist.

Edited March 24, 2012 by Elzebet

[Loreki]

Some of the books, certainly the tie-ins for SWTOR, make the point that Lord is the correct title for both genders of Sith. The word, it is seems never had the association with gender it does for us. I think the idea being that to use the term Lady is to suggest that a sith-lord is somehow different or lesser by virtue of gender; a profound mistake indeed.

So it's not universally the opinion of "the lore" that both are used. Certainly in Revan (the book) the master of the main character is female and uses Lord

 

To address the general grammar of the titles in English; here's an interesting rule. The plural for a mixed group is always 'my lords'. You'll note this from watching the House of Lords or any court in the UK.

Edited March 24, 2012 by Loreki

[Darth_Moonshadow]

I was confused by this too. I call Lord Zash "Lady Zash" when I speak about her.

[grania]

I don't care how many times I'm told that lord and sir are gender neutral - I still don't want to be called by those names. I prefer lady, and ma'am or madame. I never used my Lord title on either of my sith; they may as well not even be on my list. I am not a man. I am a woman.

 

Come to think of it, I see a lot of players wearing the Flygirl title. I wonder if they'd still wear it if we had to use Flyboy? Or how many males would wear the title if it only came in the Flygirl flavor? The two titles have no inherent differences.. one is not weaker/stronger/more special than the other. And neither is it so with Lord and Lady, they are equal.

Edited March 24, 2012 by grania

[grania]

For some reason, this reminds me of an issue that occurred in the British judiciary upon the appointment of Lady Butler-Sloss to the Court of Appeal. As no female had ever been appointed, she was referred to as ‘Lord’ for a while. It was such a patriarchal world that it took six years for Lady to become permissible.

 

Whilst I wholly accept the lore argument, I happen to have other motivations for wanting its implementation too. Principally, I would like to reclaim ‘Lady’ from flimsy, whimsical notions of classical 19th Century femininity and give marked terms equal status. Beyond that, it always makes me feel uneasy when people make the traditional masculine title universal as it perpetuates the notion that male terms are ‘stronger’ therefore more desirable. If anything, if we are to have a single title for both genders then I would actually prefer ‘Lady’ just to give the classically female title more status and power for once. I find it worrying that so many people will so readily equate 'Lord' with greater strength, even after so much social change.

 

One of the primary reasons that I like Darth is that it is a wholly invented title thus, I presume, has no innate connotations of sex. If possible, I'll always prefer something conceived of independently of classical masculine or feminine titles that can apply to both. Sadly, 'Lord' is clearly derived from reality so inevitably jars when situations likes this arise.

 

Good post, I'm glad I looked at earlier comments. I already feel that they are equal; it surprises me that some people here seem to think otherwise.

[Loreki]

It's not a matter of being sexist or opposed to genders being called what they're comfortable with. In the real world I would be with you. However, losing yourself for a moment in the fantasy world of SWTOR and looking at it from inside of that world their (admittedly fictious) history is just a little different such that your character herself may not feel how you do about the issue.

 

Remember for many players, they are playing the character, not themselves and would rather features reflect the world in which the game is set, rather than try to fit into the standards of the real world. For example, one does not generally complain that slaves in SWTOR ought to be free because slavery is a part of the fantasy world in which the game is set.

[danpen]

It's not a matter of being sexist or opposed to genders being called what they're comfortable with. In the real world I would be with you. However, losing yourself for a moment in the fantasy world of SWTOR and looking at it from inside of that world their (admittedly fictious) history is just a little different such that your character herself may not feel how you do about the issue.

 

Remember for many players, they are playing the character, not themselves and would rather features reflect the world in which the game is set, rather than try to fit into the standards of the real world. For example, one does not generally complain that slaves in SWTOR ought to be free because slavery is a part of the fantasy world in which the game is set.

 

You Will what mate.

[Ascertes]

When I hear the Lord, Lady Lachris or Lady Zhorrid or Lady Zash, I don't picture a Sith wrapped in the darkside with all it's power at their disposal. I see a queen or a princess, dressed in bright flashing colors of pink and blue, not the Red, Black, Gray and Purple that are accustomed to the Sith. The Lord title is meant to be more intimidating and imposing, and fear is the first emotion of the Dark Side. So in general, I don't think it's nessecary, but should be an option none the less

[BlazingShadow]

I don't care how many times I'm told that lord and sir are gender neutral - I still don't want to be called by those names. I prefer lady, and ma'am or madame. I never used my Lord title on either of my sith; they may as well not even be on my list. I am not a man. I am a woman.

 

Come to think of it, I see a lot of players wearing the Flygirl title. I wonder if they'd still wear it if we had to use Flyboy? Or how many males would wear the title if it only came in the Flygirl flavor? The two titles have no inherent differences.. one is not weaker/stronger/more special than the other. And neither is it so with Lord and Lady, they are equal.

 

whatever you say, mister:o

[BrusN]

It's actually as canon as it can get. Male high ranking sith have been called a "Dark Lord of the Sith" while female ones where called "Dark Lady of the Sith"

[Neulwen]

Signed. I also prefer Lady for female Sith. In my opinion it feels weird to call a female Lord.

[Forgon]

I say add lady as a title, but as a general title for some future quest or event, not as part of the Sith hierarchy.

 

Lord is the gender-neutral Sith title of the SW universe. Leave it as that.

[Cirinia]

Empire is militaristic society. Find out what happens if adress Your superior in army who is a woman with "Madam" or "Lady". You will probably end up cleaning toilet for the rest of the month:).

In SWToR using Lady/Madam when speaking to female sith would probably end up with being electrocuted for several minutes:)

[nazzeth]

Pulled this from Wiki, Clearly would fit the Lore.

 

The term "Sith Lord" generally encompassed members of both sexes, although some female Sith such as Lumiya, Tahiri Veila and Olaris Rhea were styled Sith Lady.

[Valkyone]

I'm sure in all those pages someone must of mentionned it, however never hurts to say it again;

 

the uniform use of the title "Lord" was exclusive to the rule of Two, which was created by Darth Bane. In the time of SWTOR as such, the title of Sith Lady was still very widely in use and should be made available.

 

EDIT: I realize this might be a bit of a gravedig, but I thought reviving an old topic was certainly better than making a new one for the same point.

Edited November 19, 2013 by Valkyone

[Yunaselly]

+1

 

Lady for Female Character

[xordevoreaux]

So in the bonus chapter when we get to play as HK-55, and we're Sith, are we Lord Darth Droid Sith? Or Lady Droid?

How does that work out?

[Diefenbaker]

Canon is Sith Lord.

 

Canon > your opinions.