ursula: Gules, a bear passant sable (bear)
Ursula ([personal profile] ursula) wrote2010-07-13 11:07 am
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she can not be anything but a man

The fourteenth-century Anatolian poet Ahmedi discusses the traits of a good ruler (as translated by Isenbike Togan, "In search of an approach to the history of women in central Asia", in Korkut Ertürk, ed., Rethinking Central Asia):



although he was a she, she was learned
she knew how to govern, and had good intentions

whatever she started, she completed
in kingship she excelled

there are many women esteemed higher than men
and there are many men regarded inferior to women

a man needs to be generous, wise, and religious
anybody who excels in these three attributes
must be considered a man

any person lacking in these three characteristics
is in a position worse than a bitch's

if testicles were symbols of manliness
then it is obvious that asses would be the leading men

if a woman is generous and just
she can not be anything but a man