A somewhat controversial thread about Demacian culture and petricide.

This concerns Lux and Xin Zhao, but most importantly Fiora. Note I'm not trying to push any ideology, just analyze a faction.

https://i.imgur.com/QyD7TJK.jpg

Reading her lore we encounter various insights into Demacian tradition and how Demacian men treat their women, for example:

Many suspect Fiora herself puts every suitor through an impossible gauntlet of courtship in order to remain aloof and unmarried, for a wife would, traditionally, relinquish power to her husband.

Many lore fans, for example GedweyStenr have noticed this (see his post in the fanon thread ). It's not only Fiora's lore that hints at how terribly backwards Demacians are: we also have Lux living in fear of her own brother and Xin never feeling accepted in the kingdom, despite spending his life serving it.

So why are Demacians so sexist? It makes sense that they reflect Medieval Europeans and hence act like them. But then so do Noxians, and every medieval society, even historically the Far East (here corresponding to Ionia) treated its women terribly. I thought long and hard about why that contrast came to be, why even a militaristic society like Noxus respects its women:

Anyone can rise to a position of power and respect within Noxus if they display the necessary aptitude, regardless of social standing, background, homeland, or wealth.

I think the answer here is that Demacia feels so familiar to our own medieval history because like our own world, it is devoid of magic.

The major difference between Demacia and the surrounding states is that the entire city is built of a magic dampening material (petricite). This means the mages living there could only use their powers to a fraction of their efficiency. So in the absence of magic in a primitive society, who was the grand arbiter? Physical force, of course. Hence men, being far stronger on average, could subdue and control women for centuries, even before civilisation, even before culture and chivalry demanded them to respect women slightly more.

Compare that to Noxus and Ionia where mages were allowed to live with freedom and dignity and could run the show. There are incredibly powerful women in all of them (LeBlanc in Noxus, Karma and Irelia in Ionia), whereas in Demacia it's all men running the show. The difference is, of course, that in those states no man could assume a random woman would be easy prey, no matter how powerful, as even the strongest warrior could end up scorched, cursed or zapped. Just look at the amount of power concentrated in someone as young as (Noxian).

I feel how common magical power was outside Demacia inspired a new notion of strenght in Ionia and Noxus, a definition of worth that came from within a person rather than from their force and masculinity. It is what helped Noxus become a culturally inclusive egalitarian empire. While Demacia was doomed to repeat the mistakes of our own world, the upcoming Noxus update will be a glimpse into a society that evolved to see people differently. I cannot wait.

PS Can any Lore person come round and confirm if my guess is legit? The contest story I'm writing right now sort of rests on that notion.

EDIT: Yes it should be petricite, my bad.