Diffrent styles of Leadership for Men & Women in WOT

[Paladin]

I have a problem with the woman in positions of power throughout Randland.

 

Not because they are women but because as soon as they are put into a position of power they go into " Im in charge so do as I say" mode.

 

Examples of this include Egwene, Nynaeve, and any Aes Sedai you care to mention.

 

Versus the men who find themselves in charge.

Rand steps forward and leads the Defenders of the Stone against the trollocs earning thier unquestioning loyalty.

Perrin steps up in the Two Rivers and does what needs to be done and before he knows it the entire region is calling hom Lord.

Mat Steps up and leads a group of Carheinen soldiers to victory when they were about to be slaughtered and now he has an entire army under his command.

 

As far as I can see the Men in randland tend to lead by example, they step up & do what needs to be done and gain a loyal following in doing so.

 

The women tend to scream, whine & nag until they get thier way.

 

Why is it that RJ writes such strong female characters but none of them ( except maybe for Egwene after she gets captured) try to lead by example as the men tend to do?

 

Feel free to call me a sexist pig.

[Telcar]

maybe because all the examples you mentioned are about men who are ta'veren? :P Might be your answer. Egwene isn't Ta'veren so she doesn't affect the people around her the way Rand, Mat and Perrin do.

[HoppyQ]

Or maybe that's just the way women really are? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Beckon]

RJ has discussed this to some extent. Not this topic specifically but just sort of gender roles in society.

 

Men who could channel broke the world. That's a big deal. That stigma sort of got transferred to all men and that's what spawned the whole dynamic between men and women in Randland. It was also a group of women who tried to stop LTT's plan to seal the bore. Can't remembe the character's name but she got all the female Aes Sedai with enough strength and got them to basically sign a petition saying they wouldn't participate. Schtuff happened and LTT decided to do it anyway with a bunch of men (The One Hundred Companions) and look what happened.

[DragonSpawn]

RJ has discussed this to some extent. Not this topic specifically but just sort of gender roles in society.

 

Men who could channel broke the world. That's a big deal. That stigma sort of got transferred to all men and that's what spawned the whole dynamic between men and women in Randland. It was also a group of women who tried to stop LTT's plan to seal the bore. Can't remembe the character's name but she got all the female Aes Sedai with enough strength and got them to basically sign a petition saying they wouldn't participate. Schtuff happened and LTT decided to do it anyway with a bunch of men (The One Hundred Companions) and look what happened.

 

Doesn't seem to stop Amadicia, Illian and Tear from being very male dominated. No stigma there. Also is it coincidential that the two most powerful military nations of Randland are more slanted to male dominated soceity? Moraine pointed out to Rand that if he controlled Illian and Tear the rest of Randland would fall with little chance to the combied armies of the two nations. Whereas Rand rebuffed her stating his intention to use the Aeil instead. You don't hear of Altara or Far Madding possessing any significant military prowess. Verin made a point of how easily Guaire Amalasan marched into the city of Far Madding with his host of dragonsworn.

Did RJ put that in as a coincidence or was it intentional?

[water_seeker]

maybe because all the examples you mentioned are about men who are ta'veren? Might be your answer. Egwene isn't Ta'veren so she doesn't affect the people around her the way Rand, Mat and Perrin do.

However, Lan isn't ta'veren yet when he leads he leads by example (NS)

 

Geofram Bornhald led by example before his death. Again, not Ta'veren.

 

Oh yeah, don't forget Gawyn and Galad.

 

To counter the the claim that only males lead through example we have the example of Siuan Sanche. Before she was deposed she led by example (of course now she manipulates...).

 

Morgase lead by example before Rahvin over-Powered her.

 

And of course, Sulin always led by example.

 

But it is true that alot of the women we meet seem to think that position should precedes ability rather than ability preceding position.