Chicks Rule: Then and Now

Well, Hillary’s conceded defeat (for now), there are still fewer women PhDs than men, and the ruling female class in Hollywood seem to prefer pink cell phones and bite-sized doggies to the ability to speak polysyllabically. Some weeks, things just don’t look good for the X chromosome. When I feel myself sinking into despair, I do several things. First, I engage in a rousing round of Wii boxing. Then, I find excuses to use power tools. Finally, I look into the annals of history and dig for women who knew how to fling their weight around long before it became fashionable (and then apparently became unfashionable again).

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Wu Zetian, otherwise known as Empress Wu. She walked, or rather shoved her way onto the scene during China’s Tang dynasty (618-906 AD), during which women were not required to bind their feet, or be entirely submissive, but were nonetheless far from achieving any sort of equality. Confucianism, the religion of choice at the time, deemed it unnatural and unthinkable for women to assume positions of power. One may envy of her reputation as a “good catch”, achieved by the tender age of thirteen. One may sympathize with the loss of her first husband, the emperor, and puzzle over her agreement to enter a convent following his passing. What really grabs the attention, however, are the events that followed. With her knowledge of music, literature and art, she charmed her late husband’s son, the new emperor, and began an ambitious ascent to power that would rival any cut-throat corporate takeover. Wu was a concubine at first, but managed to claw her way to first wife, a feat that involved framing the current empress for the murder of a child that Wu herself had orchestrated. Finding that she had outlived and outlasted both father and son, she boosted herself to the top of the imperial ladder, outranking even her own children, the direct heirs to the throne. Her most impressive act as empress was to change the national religion from Confucianism to Buddhism, a daunting task, but for obvious reasons, a wise and necessary one. Wu’s special brand of tough love yielded years of cultural growth, military success and economic prosperity. With only will, determination, and a generous helping of cold-blooded nastiness, Wu transformed herself from just another poor little rich girl into the ruler of one of the most powerful and paternalistic cultures of its time.

Whew. Now I feel better.