The Tirigajzari

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  The Tirigajzari are the most populous Draquen ethnic group, centered around the ancestral Draquen origin of the continent for which they are named. Like most Nioqim, they are matriarchal, but within the queendoms this is taken to a more severe degree. Males may be restricted to manual labor jobs or fodder for conflict, and are almost never in positions of power. Transgender individuals in particular face heavy backlash, but males transitioning to females are almost always treated harsher than females transitioning to males. The latter are regarded as wayward souls with self-esteem issues, and the former as a gross insult to the gender hierarchy. Despite their shared cultural and genealogical history, the Tirigajzari nations are almost always in conflict, and bad blood and discrimination remains. To the outside world, these squabbles are petty, but reminding a Draquen from Qayam'Tai that they're the same as a Draquen from Aden'Tai or Čolidal is sure to earn you at least a dirty look.

The Tirigajzari Gender Hierarchy

  Tirigajzari culture places heavy emphasis on the matriarchal clan structure common to most Nioqim societies. Females are raised (or rather, pressured) to embody the traits of the ideal matriarch, who is selfless to her family, fair in judgment, and knowledgeable in all subjects. While ideal in theory, in practice this collectivist attitude traps many in abusive situations where the matriarch's word is law, whether she is right or wrong. She dictates your entire life, from your career, to your appearance, to who you marry—if you're allowed to marry at all. The only way to escape that is to oust the prior matriarch or form your own family as the first matriarch, and the cycle continues. Much of the bad blood between Tirigajzari nations is the result of family conflicts in history, where powerful clans split and resent each other in an ever-splintering tree of generational trauma.

  Males, on the other hand, have more freedom in a sense that individualism—or rather, selfishness—is considered a masculine trait. Males are believed to act without regard to others and thus are not disciplined as strictly as females, free to do as they please because they're males, they cannot possibly understand the responsibilities of a matriarch! However, this cultural condescension perceives males as childish embodiments of chaos, unfit for true responsibilities. Higher education is seen as a waste on males, who are better off working the fields or constructing buildings, all under the watchful eye of a far more competent female supervisor. Mental health resources in Tirigajzar are fairly poor because of their associations with masculine traits. While females may be forced to simply mask, males are left to act out as it is pointless to try and fix what is intrinsic to them. Female criminals are often punished much more harshly as a result, compared to male perpetrators of the same crime. Despite the restrictions many males willingly uphold this gender hierarchy because of their freedom from the discipline and expectation imposed on females. Toxic masculinity in Tirigajzar is a culture of enabling, because oh well, boys will be boys!

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