And a bit too "rant-y," but you do have some good points.
The Third Age in general definitely has women in a general position of power. In-universe, I'd say this stems from the simple fact that saidin is (was) tainted. Much of our world's patriarchy stems from millenia-old "men are stronger than women" attitudes. Even in situations where that attitude is not blatent, it can still show in small, unconscious ways (holding open a door for a woman, for example, or a mechanic assuming a woman won't understand him).
In a world where there are women (and only women) with superpowers, running around manipulation people and nations, shooting fire out of their hands, and generally being all Aes Sedai-ish, it's harder for that unconscious attitude to grab hold. Throw in that the Aes Sedai hunt channeling men, who broke the world, and that Aes Sedai rarely find men they consider as equals, a different unconscious attitude forms- "Women have to stick together and make sure men don't screw things up, as they inevitably will without female oversight." Again, just a subtle, unconscious attitude, but I think most female characters in WoT would agree with it- at least to a certain extent.
As for which countries DON'T have this? Not many, as far as we've seen. We haven't seen a lot of the Borderlands, so it's hard to tell. Malkier was definitely extremely super-woman. tGH was Shienar, right? They had more of it. The men "ruled," and were respected and honored for their war against the Shadow, but any soldier would shift nervously if a woman glared at him.
Cairhein seemed pretty evenhanded- lords and nobles were lords and nobles, and both women and men could be dastardly (though the most dangerous nobles have tended to be women, haven't they?).
Tear didn't seem to have any "Super Woman's Circle" like Far Madding, either.
Saldea is an interesting one. Their marriages are almost a microcosm of gender relations in the Wheel of Time (and falls very well into your A and B divisions of government). The man is technically "in charge," when he asserts his authority over his wife she is demure. He in turn is supposed to respect her and her strength (by shouting at her, but whatever). However, the wife has much, much more power than it seems on the surface- she tries to influence her husband as much as possible in private, schemes and plots, often in secret if she thinks he'll just put up a fuss. Of course, she sees this as being done for his/the family's own good- and this is exactly the attitude I mentioned at the beginning of this post.
The Third Age in general definitely has women in a general position of power. In-universe, I'd say this stems from the simple fact that saidin is (was) tainted. Much of our world's patriarchy stems from millenia-old "men are stronger than women" attitudes. Even in situations where that attitude is not blatent, it can still show in small, unconscious ways (holding open a door for a woman, for example, or a mechanic assuming a woman won't understand him).
In a world where there are women (and only women) with superpowers, running around manipulation people and nations, shooting fire out of their hands, and generally being all Aes Sedai-ish, it's harder for that unconscious attitude to grab hold. Throw in that the Aes Sedai hunt channeling men, who broke the world, and that Aes Sedai rarely find men they consider as equals, a different unconscious attitude forms- "Women have to stick together and make sure men don't screw things up, as they inevitably will without female oversight." Again, just a subtle, unconscious attitude, but I think most female characters in WoT would agree with it- at least to a certain extent.
As for which countries DON'T have this? Not many, as far as we've seen. We haven't seen a lot of the Borderlands, so it's hard to tell. Malkier was definitely extremely super-woman. tGH was Shienar, right? They had more of it. The men "ruled," and were respected and honored for their war against the Shadow, but any soldier would shift nervously if a woman glared at him.
Cairhein seemed pretty evenhanded- lords and nobles were lords and nobles, and both women and men could be dastardly (though the most dangerous nobles have tended to be women, haven't they?).
Tear didn't seem to have any "Super Woman's Circle" like Far Madding, either.
Saldea is an interesting one. Their marriages are almost a microcosm of gender relations in the Wheel of Time (and falls very well into your A and B divisions of government). The man is technically "in charge," when he asserts his authority over his wife she is demure. He in turn is supposed to respect her and her strength (by shouting at her, but whatever). However, the wife has much, much more power than it seems on the surface- she tries to influence her husband as much as possible in private, schemes and plots, often in secret if she thinks he'll just put up a fuss. Of course, she sees this as being done for his/the family's own good- and this is exactly the attitude I mentioned at the beginning of this post.
I amuse myself.
What do you consider to be the most pro-masculine culture/country in WoT? The most anti-female?
19/09/2009 07:32:03 AM
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What about male-only organizations?
19/09/2009 02:00:55 PM
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Yeah, Aiel warrior societies.
19/09/2009 03:44:36 PM
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Women are probably not up to the functions of the other societies physically.
21/09/2009 06:10:14 AM
- 588 Views
Hm, you never do see a female Whitecloak. Do they ever talk about why?
20/09/2009 04:11:30 PM
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I was taking you seriously
19/09/2009 03:29:16 PM
- 689 Views
So a post has to be ALL humor or none? I was kidding on the square anyway.
21/09/2009 06:13:40 AM
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No question.
19/09/2009 08:43:47 PM
- 772 Views
Well the Amadicia thing is really just a function of the channeling. The Children are like the Reds
21/09/2009 07:10:16 AM
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Re: Well the Amadicia thing is really just a function of the channeling...
28/09/2009 06:24:19 PM
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The ogier all have masculine features.
19/09/2009 09:06:14 PM
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Ahhhh wall of text! Some good points, though
20/09/2009 04:04:48 PM
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Do you have anything against paragraphs? *NM*
20/09/2009 10:03:48 PM
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I agree, but I also think there is a purpose.
21/09/2009 03:43:45 AM
- 620 Views
I think the Shienaran custom of protecting women is both patronizing and submissive ATST. *NM*
21/09/2009 02:33:58 PM
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