Stand...in the place where you live
Why does the gnome distrust the half-orc? Because orcs regularly raided her village as a child. Why does the cleric shun the priests of the official state-sponsored faith? Those very same priests are responsible for kidnapping the cleric when she was but a girl. Standpoint theory asserts that our perspective on the world arises from our unique social locations. Those locations include our demographics, race, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation and all the other aspects of our identity. We are each shaped by those locations and experiences to produce an outlook on the world unique to each of us. Those outlooks, in turn, shape our communication with others. Imagine a typical feudal fantasy world. In such a world, the common serf likely knows more about the state of the area’s farmland, the impact of recent tax hikes, and the rumors circulating about a local noble than the king does. The king’s perspective (his standpoint) is equally influenced by his history and experienc...