Forum:Women as leaders

Albia isn't entirely trustworthy, but she seems not to be such a bad ruler. In particular, she manages to collect a large number of sparks who work on their individual interests but don't start wars, like most of the sparks on the Europan mainland. We don't know that much about the lives of minions in England, but the few we've met don't seem bitterly oppressed.

What was life like in the time of the Great Society of Queens? Not perfectly idyllic; most of the Queens kept their exact locations secret to prevent invasion. The Mirrors were essential, then, to maintaining the peace. But the Queens were, I argue, also essential. For thousands of years, they were able to sustain a peaceful, worldwide, loose-knit society. Princess Zeetha and perhaps-Storm-Queen-to-be Agatha are also working for peace and prosperity (despite their interest in martial arts and death rays, respectively).

The Foglios aren't rubbing our noses in it, but I think it's pretty consistently the case that women are better rulers than men. There's one female exception: Lucrezia. (Zola would be another if she ever actually got to rule anyone.) And there are four male exceptions: Bill, Barry, Klaus, and Gil. (There are nice men and nasty women, but we're talking about the sparks who have the will and the ability to become rulers.)

I guess this is why I prefer to believe that Lucrezia was taken over by the Other rather than originating the role. And we know that Agatha has what may be one of the requirements of Queenhood: She has "peered into the infinite."

On the other hand, good guyness seems to be breaking out all over in the young generation: all our principal characters, plus the kids on Castle Wulfenbach. It would be great if the story ends with a long-term peaceful, well-governed Europa. Bkharvey (talk) 05:51, July 21, 2018 (UTC)