Who runs the world?; Female Empowerment

Gaining power as a woman in the medieval, and neo-medieval, times was difficult and often required being married to the right person. Unlike today where feminism is circulating through society and a woman being in charge is not so far-out, in the past women struggled to gain power. 

However, they did not fail to gain power. Through stealth and strategic political manipulation females were able to reach points of power. In the case of Emma in the tale of Encomium Emmae Regina she was able to briefly gain power through marriage and being the mother of the king. In Game of Thrones Daenerys is able to gain power through a strategic arranged marriage. 

Though the arranged marriage was made by her brother and with the intention to bring him power, it ultimately empowered Dany. It made her the queen of a powerful group of people and it also empowered her to stand up against the abuses of her brother. This empowerment happened when she was allowed to feel like she had self-worth. When she was just with her brother, she was abused and not respected or given any sort of power over decisions regarding her future. Once she was allowed to be placed in a position of authority, Dany was empowered. In the third chapter focusing on Dany, this empowerment starts to show through her resistance of her brother’s abuse and her increased comfort with giving orders, her title, and her husband. 

In Encomium Emmae Regina, Emma was able to find empowerment by being the mother of the king. This was possibly one of the most powerful positions in the kingdom, even above being Queen, which was a position that she also held. The most influential kind of power that she could have obtained was indirect power. This indirect power would have been exercised by influencing her son and exerting her power over him as her mother to have him influence the kingdom in the way that she wanted. It is because of this power that leads Emma to back up one of her sons to be king over the rest. While she has been criticized for this, her motives for empowerment and influence justified her selective support. 

Now, do not read this and assume that the females in these stories did not have this inside of them before they gained power. This empowerment was merely suppressed for survival reasons. If Dany were to have defied her brother before she had become a queen, she would have been severely beaten for it. Their empowerment was waiting to come out at a time when it was safe for them to exercise their power.