The Amazon tribe will accept as its own any creature who falls into the
Spring of Drowned Girl, or Nyanniichuan. (For those of you who don't like
translations.)

Reason behind it: Think about it. Exactly how many of you outsider males
wouldn't take advantage of a vapor-brained knockout, (if Ranma's reaction to
the Nyanniichuan can be taken as typical) particularly if said knockout was
acting like an animal in heat? And no outsider male would voluntarily give
up his manhood. In the Amazon village, the poor things can at least be
fairly well protected...

>From a realistic point of view, I think that depends on how much the cursed
individual is capable of contributing to the village (and not just as a
fighter either).  A doctor, a learned wise person, a rich person willing to
boot up the village's economical state . . . and so on are what all Chinese
villages look for.  Also, said individual must respect the law of the
Amazons in the first place to gain trust of the village.

Any outsider male who defeats an Amazon female is bound by law to marry her.
(Yes, I know that's already in the canon... bear with me, here.) However,
within the tribe, defeat is not binding, but it is necessary for marriage,
though this requirement can be waived by the agreement of an Elder and both
interested parties.

Reason behind it (the new part): If the original purpose of the law was to
extend the genetic pool a bit, then there's really no reason why defeat
should be necessary within the tribe. If anything, it'll actually dilute
things a bit, since only the weakest of the warriors will actually marry
unless someone sneaks a few performance-enhancing drugs into the man's
ramen. Of course, love will find a way, though a thrown match is hardly
binding. The waiving bit came about because there are some warriors who do
love within the tribe but either would obviously be throwing the match if
they lost or because their sense of honor won't allow them to give less than
their all. Also, I really didn't want Lawson's Shampoo and Mousse to be
living in sin. Read the TIL epilogues for some idea...

That is not exactly true.  Shampoo had been defeated (though through
trickery) by Kilma's flunkies in (vol 37), yet she still want Ranma and
Ranma alone.  I think the marriage thing depends heavily on the preference
of the Amazon warrior in question.  Also, marriage within the tribe is
certainly not discouraged.  Mousse's quest to have Shampoo for himself
isn't opposed by any Amazon law, as shown by Cologne supporting Shampoo's
choice to date Mousse in manga vol 27 (even though Mousse' dorky choice of
'entertainmant' gained him an uppercut from the annoyed Shampoo and the
date was thrown).  The only time when Cologne had interfered with Mousse's
wooing of Shampoo was in Manga Vol 5, and that was only after Mousse had
lied to everyone that he was SHampoo's fiancee.

And, finally, rape by a male, particularly an outsider male, is the worst
crime, comparable to or worse than murder and punishable by either permanent
removal of manhood (Nyanniichuan plus that strange and mystical bucket the
Musk Dynasty has... or just a few cuts in the right place) or death.

Reason behind it: In a matriarchal society which prizes the strength of its
women, do you really have to ask? Perhaps that "defeat by an outsider male"
rule was instituted for more reasons than just to keep the tribe strong...

Nod, Nod . . . the day a man can get away with raping one of a gang of
martial-art capable Chinese Feminist is the day when the sun turn black and
the moon turn red.  Defeating (without hurting) a warrior to gain her hand
is one thing, to rape one will be unthinkable by any society's standard.

A.W.