Герберт Беас о расовых и сексуальных предрассудках в БТ

Взято из фейсбука https://www.facebook.com/herbert.beas
Извините, что нет перевода. Я не считаю себя достаточно компетентным в этом вопросе.
Извините, что нет перевода. Я не считаю себя достаточно компетентным в этом вопросе.
A stroll down memory lane in my files here, I came upon this gem from what appeared to be my last BattleTech State of the Game Address. In this one, I was giving a rundown of basic aesthetics I wanted writers to avoid or tone down...
"• Racial and Sexual Prejudice. (BattleTech is a universe where humanity has become so interbred that the notion of a “pure” race is laughable, as is the notion that this universe is just for the “straights”. Though color and sexual prejudice has not been stamped out everywhere—as evidenced by flare-ups of anti-Asian behavior in house Davion, the existence of New Capetown in the Lyran Commonwealth, and pretty much every random murder than happens in a Victor Milan novel—the general population of the universe is blasé about differences in color and sexual preference. As a result, the closest real analog to this kind of bigotry left in our setting is the Inner Sphere-wide hatred of the Clans, whose eugenics program is seen as a perversion against nature in just about every way imaginable. Thus, much like the metaphysical issues noted above, anyone who wants to make bigotry a key element in their stories should be very careful in its application, because if the topic is mishandled, I doubt many of our audience will tolerate it.)"
Bigotry by race and sex in BT has long been shown to be the exception, not the norm. I didn't say it "could not continue", but that the notion of pure races and "straights-only" thinking were laughable to the majority.
New Capetown was seen by many as backwards and stupid for its attitudes toward those of African descent. Meanwhile, even the Combine--with its rigidly imposed, pseudo-medieval Japanese flair and occasional snarks about women and inferior cultures--was still a place where it wasn't uncommon to have black, Arabic, or female samurai at all ranks, and even homosexuality was mentioned in novels among the various realms without much more comment than to acknowledge it could be found anywhere. It's been a thousand years and a lot of space travel; the dominant mindsets are more aligned around whose House one comes from than what one's skin tone is and what one chooses to fuck.
That said, the fact of the matter is, the directive was aimed at telling writers to stay the hell away from or minimize the role of racial and gender stereotyping and bigotry in their writing. That it exists from time to time is a given; drawing more than cursory attention to it is a way to turn off readers--or, more accurately, the line developer at the time. Indeed, the directive doesn't even tell writers to avoid it completely, but to be very careful if they choose to use it.
The Clans' attitudes toward sex is basically the same as anyone else's attitude toward food. You boink because you feel the biological urge, then move on. What you bump uglies with is secondary.
Although, let's be honest; some aspects of Clan society seemed to be all about satisfying someone's fetishes.