STARGATE Meta & Picspam: Was Sha'uri a virgin when she met Daniel?

[campylobacter]

I'm writing a series of mostly PG-rated D/V vignettes based on scrollgirl 's story "What Are Friends For?", and am curious about any canonical or fanonical consensus regarding Sha'uri's sexual experience before she was given to Dan-Yel in the 1994 Movie.


Of course Sha'uri was a virgin at some point in her life, but I'd like to be accurate regarding the extent of her sexual experience at the time she met Daniel Jackson on Abydos. I have 2 theories regarding this subject, which I hope to goshness has been covered and resolved sometime in a fandom that dates back to 1994. (cf. fignewton 's Stargate the Movie meta: Sha'uri, heroine of Abydos)

The Virgin!Sha'uri Theory

(For those of you wondering, when I talk about the character from the 1994 movie and the Abydonian honeymoon year with Daniel, I spell her name "Sha'uri"; when I speak of her in the TV show from the pilot onward, I spell her name "Sha're". (cf. fignewton's meta Sha're or Sha'uri? and my squee over tafkar's "One Dimension Removed")

When I watch the Movie, I notice that Mili Avital's clearly not playing the vampy seductress in the bridal tent scene; her Sha'uri is hesitant, demure, shy, and unsure if she'll please the intriguing stranger her father has given her to. There's clearly no sexual confidence in her body language in the tent:

I assume here that the Abydonian culture has a protocol if you're a nubile chica giving yourself to Ra or one of His representatives:

1. Enter the tent,
2. don't say a word,
3. take off your dress one shoulder at a time, and
4. wait for the male to make the first move.

She's also feeling rejected and flustered in the cave during the sandstorm, so when Daniel finally clues in that they're MARRIED and he can indulge in the boners she's given him ever since they got geeky over hieroglyphs (which must've been the ultimate porn for Dr. Jackson), she flutters her lashes before submitting to Dan-Yel's kiss.


The ensuing second-unit footage of sand blowing over dunes either symbolizes that A.) there's blow jobs involved or B.) some generic penetrative schmexin's goin' on in the cave. Daniel's way too bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the next morning for there to be any coffee involved, so I kinda like to think both options happened.

Therefore, Sha'uri's definitely not a virgin by the time she quells the rumors that her husband's gay and won't bed her, by kissing him in public:


The Not-a-Virgin!Sha'uri Theory

Another spin on Sha'uri's sexual experience before she met Daniel can be posited this way: the Abydonian women (wives? widows?) who washed Daniel didn't hesitate to touch him all over, so if there were a taboo in that culture against women touching unmarried men, it certainly doesn't apply if you're scrubbing down a bridegroom with mastadge butter on his wedding night.


When Sha'uri enters the bridal tent, she's clearly coached in how to behave, but how much? Accomplished courtesans know that most men can't resist a coy virgin, and she could've been playing that angle to make Kasuf's "gift" to Ra's representative more enticing. It's a theory.

Canonically, Daniel likes to hang around strong, confident people (Sarah Gardner, Shau'ri, Jack O'Neill, Teal'c, Sam Carter, Cam Mitchell, Linea/Ke'ra, Shen Xiaoyi, Vala) but he also likes to discover a vulnerable side before making physical contact (insert another lengthy meta here) and asserting his Alpha!Daniel side. So Daniel falling in love with the brains behind the First Abydonian Uprising demonstrates Sha'uri's no shrinking violet or hapless victim; she's a rebel, and defies conventional thinking, which could extend into sexuality.

The Sha'uri as Top Theory

The way Sha're kisses her husband before he shows Jack & Co. their secret BDSM chamber the "vilee tao AHN", or "archaeological find of the century" clearly signals to Daniel and the company that her bisexual husband is off-limits to anyone but her.


Mr. Sha're even uses the secret husband-wife code to promise his wife that he'll give her special attention later.


The couple is obviously comfortable around each other romantically and sexually, but not to the point that they reveal to Jack and Sam that they've done it on the DHD.

Ya know, now that I've completed this meta/picspam, I've forgotten exactly WHY I needed to know about Sha'uri's virginity, because I got distracted by my very first Stargate 'ship.

Oh well. I hope that you've at least enjoyed the eye candy.


Come on, Eileen
Oh, I swear (What he means)
Aw come on let's take off everything
That pretty red dress Eileen (Tell him yes)
Aw come on let's...aw come on Eileen

Comments

[fignewton]

Here via Paian's roundup, and there can never be enough Sha're picspam, whee!

Thanks for all the links. :)

Regarding your question, I lean more heavily to "yes" on of the assumption that the culture would put non-virginity in the "damaged goods" column when it comes to giving gifts to someone they think is Ra's representative. You've read my meta :) so you know I see movie!Sha'uri as being shy and unsure of Daniel's approval... but only up until the "draw the curtains on them scene," after which she seems to have no problems whatsoever in kissing Daniel in front of Dad and every other person in Nagada.

OTOH, Sha'uri is pretty old by her culture's standards, which makes it surprising that she hasn't been married yet. Maybe she was married and then widowed? Since she's royalty (essentially), I very much doubt she'd be allowed to play out-of-bounds, so to speak.

And yes, I adore how comfortable Sha're is in COTG. So very confident in herself, not just as Daniel's wife. Awesome woman all round. ::sighs happily::

[lc59.livejournal.com]

And since you couldn't remember why you wanted to know whether or not Sha'uri was virgin then I don't think it matters much in the long run.
And yes I did enjoy the eye candy,thanks...can't help wishing that the original Sha'uri moved over to the show too...definitely preferred her over MS's bedmate.

[campylobacter.livejournal.com]

I think my original thoughts might've strayed to whether Sha'uri had been a member of Ra's child harem (ew) but I guess I really didn't wanna go there. I have a feeling Ra discarded his "toys" once they grew too old for his proclivities. :-(

Or may I had been idly wondering if Daniel preferred virgins, but his choice of lovers during the series suggests otherwise.

OMG, I'd've been a fan of Stargate SG-1 from the very start if Mili Avital had been a cast regular, or even if the character Sha're (despite being played by Vaitiare Bandera) hadn't been abducted. I remember being disappointed that Sam was the only female regular, and was pissed that Catherine Langford was deemed too old to be an interesting regular cast member. Not until Vala showed up did I become a fan.

Speaking of MS's bedmates, I gained quite an appreciation for his wife after I saw a few episodes of Andromeda. Lexa Doig is incredibly talented and a pleasure to watch! He's a lucky man.

[lc59.livejournal.com]

Yeah but if Sha're hadn't been abducted there wouldn't have been a reason for Daniel to be on the team...not sure how that woulda played out...what would've persuaded him to come home?
I have to admit that I'd always thought that Catherine woulda made an interesting cast member...she wouldn't have been believable on a team because of her age but she coulda been a background character like Bill Lee.

So what's the deal with 'my favourite alien'?
Given up on it?

[campylobacter.livejournal.com]

Heck, if I'd written the pilot, Catherine Langford would've been stranded on Abydos by the end of the episode, Sha'uri would be at the SGC with Daniel, Sam, Jack, & Teal'c, and Skaara plus the archaeologists Barbara Shore & Gary Myers would be hidden on Apophis's ha'tak trying to sabotage his evil empire.

I need to get crackin' on "My Little Alien", actually. I've been procrastinating. I just *knew* that I didn't wanna be an admin/project leader because of exactly this reason.

[tafkarfanfic.livejournal.com]

Ha! I wrote a short AU in which Catherine was dumped in a sarcophagus, which got rid of her old-age ailments, and wound up on SG-1. Cranky Catherine and Jack TOTALLY makes for a comic win!

I, like everyone else, prefer Mili Avital - but I'm not surprised she didn't come back for a small role in which she'd be asked to be topless when she was doing Big Things in Europe and Israel. And yet the Sha're in my head when I write usually looks like MS's babymama.

I actually did some research into ancient Egyptian sexual mores for my story. Considering her social status, Sha're would probably have been a virgin unless she'd previously been married (which is NOT hard to imagine, since life expectancies on Abydos are probably short). OTOH, they do keep getting visited by Apophis, which could throw a big monkey wrench into the "sexual mores" thing.

[tafkarfanfic.livejournal.com]

Also, EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Thank you for mentioning my story!!!

[campylobacter.livejournal.com]

How could I NOT mention your story? Also, you're gonna have to cough up the link to that Langford AU. I love it when authors pimp their stuff on my LJ.

Anthropologically, virginity is a condition used to evaluate a female's suitability to bear offspring exclusive to the male who wishes to breed with her; if Ra (or Apophis) culled the choicest Abydonian children as sex slaves (ew ew ew) then he wasn't breeding with them. As their god, Ra's proclivities might inform the sexual mores of Abydonian culture (Oh god, brain bleach, plz) making virginity a non-issue. Canonically, didn't he breed with his sister Hathor?

Crap. I *went* there. Sorry.

[tafkarfanfic.livejournal.com]

The Catherine Langford one is segment #2 of this FIve Things: Five Teams SG-1 Wasn't. It's also got the first Sha're story I ever wrote in it.

I think you're right so far as the virginity issue goes. Ew.

Actually, according to this, virginity was not required or expected before marriage. Monogamy after marriage, however, was.
http://www.fathom.com/course/21701778/session1.html

[shakespherical.livejournal.com]

Not a virgin and here is why. The Abydonians are like the ancient Egyptians right? Sexuality in ancient Egypt was rather "free" for young people. They were expected to be monogamous only after marriage and seem to have the same predilictions towards adulatery as our society does. They liked sex. They had sex goddesses. Sex festivals. People tend to confuse the GREEK concept of the shy retiring virginal female with the rest of the ancient world. Not the case. Lots of fucking going on. Bi-sexuality was not however the norm in Egypt. Egyptian women were the most powerful of the ancient world and had the most legal rights. For example, they could seek divorce, own property, remain unmarried etc. Divorce laws are a clear indication when historians attempt to understand gender relationships. Greek women did not have that riight for example. Moreover, in addition to three female pharaohs, there is growing evidence to suggest that the pharaonic line was based on the "wives of god". The women of the royal family were god's wives. In order to be pharaoh a man had to be married to a wife of god. Hence the reason for incest in the royal families. A pharaoh may even resort to marrying a daughter if his wife died in order to keep his claim secure. There are many pharaoh's who elevated a non-relative to "principal queen" as is the case of Ramses II and Akenaton. These queens became very powerful. Queen Thi, Akenaton's mohter was ENORMOUSLY powerful and inspired his political revolution. Interestingly she was not of royal birth. So we have abundant evidence of both the power of women of royal birth and many examples of women who rose to prominnence through their association with powerful men. Hatshepsut was able to usurp the power of her nephew and become pharaoh because she was a pharaoh's daughter and he was less connected to "god's wife". She had the most peaceful and productive rule in Egyptian history. With power comes sexual freedom. If you were a woman in the ancient world, it was best to be Egyptian.

So, Shau'ri, Shau're or Sha're...all not virgins. In my opinion.

[campylobacter.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That took a lot of research! :-D

What sort of property/inheritance arrangements would the Abydonians have had as a slave culture? I assume that Ra would declare all possessions His for the taking, and perhaps transferred anyone's property to His favorites on a whim whenever He wanted to assert His Douchebaggedness.

For the sake of the plotbunny I had, I'd rather Sha'uri NOT be a virgin when she met Daniel, because I think would've given him performance anxiety the first time they "got busy". Daniel's got a thing for dominant women, anyway.

I like Tafkar's theory about Sha'uri being a widow, which wouldn't've been unusual in an oppressed society that had an overlord as evil as Ra.

[shakespherical.livejournal.com]

Good point about the slavery and all the more reason for them to be celebrating life. I suspect that the writers expected us to interpret slavery in teh modern context of African American slavery. Slavery in teh ancient world varied vastly from state to state and slaves were usually captives from war. In the case of Ra, I think slavish devotion would be required and they would be kept at the "barely fed" level. Worked to death, beaten, abused. Slaves were often separated from their families, and not allowed freedom in terms of marriage. But they would be encouraged to breed. I think it's possible that she would have been raped by Jaffa early on. She would have to have been very strong indeed to have survived childnood and the kind of life she was leading. What if she's not a virgin but never been made love to? What if she assumes the position as expected by the Jaffa or Ra and "submits" to him. Daniel would not like that at all! He could be the first to "pleasure' her....grrrrr...me like taht idea.

[campylobacter.livejournal.com]

Heh. That's an awesome smutbunny!

The more I speculate on Ra, and the more I watch the 1994 Movie, the more creeped out I get.

The TV writers really toned down the Goa'uld's villainy by not depicting the pedophilia for the series.

Plus, if Sha'uri and the other Abydonians (male & female; Ra liked them both) did have a history of sexual abuse, it really makes their liberation from him at the end of the movie especially poignant.

[archersangel (from livejournal.com)]

you make compelling arguments for both. several people have pointed out that at her age (20? 22?) she should've been married already, maybe at 14 or 15. there are 1 or 2 fan fics around that say she was married, but to a much older man & was just his nurse/caretaker and it was never consummated.
now i'm wondering if her father was "saving" her for someone important.

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