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SPOILER INFO
Mild spoiler – a brief discussion of some power figures in Skyrim.
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Skyrim's feminist delusionism is very disturbing at times, but one day when I was thinking about female leaders, something funny occurred to me. As you probably remember, three jarls of nine are women. A female jarl in a Skyrim-like world seems nonsensical. But let us have a closer look at them.
Elisif of Solitud is a lass who had a crown put on her head simply because it was dictated by custom. She is doing her best to play the part but has obviously no interest in it.
Laila of Bitchen is a compassionate woman with no sense for politics whatsoever. That is obvious from her naive trust in her deceiving steward who is blatantly supporting organized crime.
And finally, Idgrod of Morthal doesn't even have anyone to tell her what to do, being surrounded by retards whose political expertise is limited to knowing a sword from an axe. So she places her trust on the ethereal voices in her head and more recently a shady wizard.
It is really ironical, and I'm not sure if Bethesda intended it that way, but between them, those three sum up pretty nicely what female rulers are all about.
An obvious question you may ask is "What about Maven Black-Briar? Wouldn't she make a good jarl if it wasn't for the cultural taboos that determine who can be jarl and who can't?" Yes, I think she's the kind of iron lady who would be a match to Balgruuf, Ulfric and Korir. Except that her rule would be only for the benefit of her kin and secondarily of her henchmen. She couldn't care less about the welfare of the public. Balgruuf and Ulfric are, like, natural leaders who feel secure being in power, convinced that they are entitled to it, and thus feel confident in keeping the order in their holds and taking care of their subjects. They want to keep their property – their land and its people – in good order, as they'll have to pass it on to their children. By contrast, Maven the jarl would forever be an angry lioness ready to ferociously attack anyone who seems to be threatening her cubs. She may be cool and arrogant on the outside, but she will never have the kind of inner calm a real leader has. She will never feel secure. Korir may be embittered and eager to rise up in the pecking order, but he still thinks of his hold as a natural part of himself, while Maven couldn't care less if The Rift Hold was destroyed as long as her own kin prospered. That is the other kind of female leader in Skyrim, again very much plausible psychologically.
Of course, the obvious incompetence of the existing female jarls doesn't in any way validate that brat in Falkert, or that stubborn old man in Dånstar who is recklessly using the people of his hold as a means for striving towards some unrealized dreams from his youth. (I can't comment on the jarl of Morpork because I haven't yet had the opportunity to really get to know his personality.)
It should go without saying that the mere fact of being a man doesn't make one suitable for jarlship. (Many men are clearly unable to even lead their own family.) All I wanted to say is that women's personalities and motivations make them virtually always unsuitable as government leaders, and ironically the Skyrim game is very successful in bringing that point home.
[originally published 2017-04-09]
