She had all the royal makeup of a Queen,

As holy oil, Edward the Confessor’s crown,

The rod, a bird of peace, and all such emblems

Laid nobly on her.

— Shakespeare, Henry VIII, IV, 1

OH, it’s good to be the queen, to have everyone at your beck and call, to do your bidding as you see fit, to have no one question your authority, your judgement, your decree, your edict, and especially to have everyone laugh at your jokes. Ah yes, the queen is large and in charge and reigns supreme.

But she is just one woman who rules. All the world’s great rulers, potentates, emperors, sultans, kings, shoguns…they were all male. Women simply did not get a chance to rule as much as men did, and to this day, that applies. Perhaps that’s why Queen Elizabeth refuses to give up her throne after so many decades, seeing so many prime ministers come and go, as well as US presidents. She is still there. Long live the Queen, and she means it too.

But she is just one woman who has the privilege to rule over her subjects, and truth be told, she’s really a figurehead, as opposed to days of yore when queens had real power and could declare edicts. It was Queen Isabella of Spain who sent Columbus on his voyages. Woman power was real then, and not just imagined.

But what if women had real power, what if they could change the rules of the game, had dominion over their subjects and could make things happen? What if women ruled the world? We’ll find out right after these responses to ‘A good man’.

Tony,

To understand what is seen as a good man by women is to have an almost impossible definition, as to define something, you have to know exactly what you are looking for. But over time we have come to realise women really don’t know what they want.

I guess it all comes down to perception and tolerance, because all is relative. One thing I have come to realise is that the human emotion can never be just right, no matter how good a situation is, we have the ability to create some misery, and on the other hand, no matter how bad, we can create some happiness.

Thus a good man or a good woman is more about what we can tolerate, because the bird in the bush always seems better than the one in the hand. While I am still searching but not finding, I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all. Ecclesiasties 7, verse 28, “Thus there are upright men, but it seems they are few.”

The N-igma

Mr Teerob,

What’s all this talk about a good man? Men are only good until they see an opportunity to be bad and can get away with it. Beneath the façade of every good man is a lecher and a womaniser who is just good because he’s afraid to be bad and get caught. Give every ‘good man’ a chance to do wrong and see how quickly he rises to the bait. Bad men are more honest, for they show their true colours, but good men are hypocrites, wolves in sheep’s clothing who will tear off your clothing if you give them half a chance.

Sandra

What if we woke up one morning and saw that women were in charge of the planet, ruled the world, held sway over all men, and called the shots? Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing, for men have ruled the world for eons, and it seems to be in quite a mess. Never send a man to do a job when a woman can do it, is the old saying. But let’s go back a little in history, and look at places and eras when women ruled.

The Valkyrie, Norse women who were fierce fighters and who ruled supreme, or the Amazon women who were fearless and took no crap from anybody…they ran things. But apart from those, women seem to have taken a back seat to their male counterparts, relegated to being second-class citizens in every country in the world, earning less than men, and subjected to the laws of men.

Even now, in some countries, women are not allowed to drink, smoke or drive cars. They have to adhere to the laws and decrees laid down by men. Still, there have been strides made, and some women have risen up the food chain, climbed up the ladder, topped the totem pole. But not all women. There still has not been a female president of the USA.

There is this joke circulating about these diplomats who were being flown back from Afghanistan on a military aircraft. When they boarded the giant plane, they discovered that it was operated by an all-woman flight crew, captain, first officer and flight engineer. The captain promptly explained that where they flew the plane from was not referred to as the cockpit, but as the box office.

See, women do have sense of humour and the first thing that they would do is change the name on all aircraft from cockpit to box office. I guess they would change the name of the capital of Thailand from Bangkok to something else.

Air Jamaica also had an all-woman flight crew at one time, and I was proud to have flown with them. The fact is, women are safer and less likely to take risks than men. This fact is not lost on insurance companies which offer special discounts to female drivers. Can you imagine if they were really in charge, what rules and regulations they would lay down for us all?

They would ensure that everyone drove like them, and the term ‘woman driver’ would be replaced by ‘man driver’, for the female standard would be higher and superior to the male’s. What is true is that women are not driven by ego, so there would be no need to show off on the roads, hot dogging and doing crazy stunts that cause accidents. Women would also ensure that men cared for their children, as being in charge, they would be stricter against men who simply had children and walked away.

If women ruled, then they would be the ones who decided when and who they had babies with, and not the other way around. As it is now, with man being the dominant sex, he can just do what he wants, with almost whomever he wants, and walk away when he wants. If women had real power, that would not happen, and I guarantee that there would be less unwanted pregnancies and fatherless kids running around. Someone once said that if men could get pregnant, they would not be so careless with their loins.

If women ruled, they would see to it that there would be less adventure among men, as we all know that most women love the home environment, whereas men love to explore, discover, seek new frontiers and face challenges. Women would see to it that men stayed home more, and do domestic stuff. “Hey Edmund, no exploration of the North for you. Just stay home and help me with the kids this weekend.”

As for this male bonding rubbish, women would eliminate that aspect of men growing up. Most women really hate it when men move in packs, when their man always wants to go out with ‘dem boys’ to have a drink. They hate it when their man can’t make a move unless he calls ‘Tyrone’ as Erykah Badu sang about. The irony is, even though women hate male bonding, they see nothing wrong when they bond, and girls’ night out is more than a reality. I see more women out in groups than men. But that may be for a different reason.

If women ruled the world they would see to it that every house was well-kept and up to snuff, and not look like a hovel or barn. Bachelor pads would become things of the past. I have seen women transform bachelor pads into immaculate, elegant homes worthy of any HGTV programme, that it’s mind-blowing. No man can ever match a woman’s touch, for what a woman sees, no man can ever see. But as long as men still rule, there will be resistance.

If women ruled, sex would be different. They would be the ones calling the shots, determining when and where it takes place, and of course, what happens during. Men would be the hunted and women, the predators. “Come Simon, time for bed, and make sure you wear your sexy underwear for you’re really going to please me tonight. And no talk about headache, either.”

Lengthy foreplay would be a legal requirement. If women ruled, economies would be better, for we all know that women handle money better than men do. They know how to turn a dollar and make it stretch. Plus, there would be less wars, as women do seem to care more about human life than men. No woman would send her son off to war. Murder is a man’s domain.

But sadly, women do not rule the world, although many of the things that I’ve mentioned are already done by women. They really are in charge in many areas. Just ask any man who’s been married for a long time and he’ll tell you, “Man, it’s my wife who really run things, Boss; she’s in charge.”

In spite of all the strides that society has made though, it’s still a man’s world and that’s just the way it is. With no hint of chauvinism, for I love women dearly as you all know, but is it the way it’s supposed to be, with men ruling the roost? Is it the natural order of things?Would you want a world where women ran things, called all the shots, made all the laws and decisions? Tell me what you think. More time.

seido1@hotmail.com

Footnote: I watch a lot of television, even though I also read voraciously. But being a TV producer by profession, I am drawn to the small screen. I watch everything from BBC, CNN, ABC, ESPN, CBS, NBC, HBO and even the Indian, Chinese and Middle Eastern channels. I enjoy our local fare too, but it hurts me to see how some of our presenters appear on national television like they’re in their back yard. Most are pretty good, some even excellent, but others need to have their hair groomed and their teeth fixed, plus adhere to a proper dress code. Just watch the BBC, then look at some of ours and you’ll see the glaring contrast. Nuff said.