First Gynocratic Summit (Closed, invitation or TG to join)

[South East Europe]

Sarah just couldn't shut up about it, she swigged some more of her martini and impatiently wiggled her glass for more. "So...okay. You know female in most biology I ever studied indicates the ability to have an ovum get fertilized and create kids. I have kids, I have pictures here on my ipod. Anyway: so is it a normal penis? Can you um get erect, impregnate someone with a normal vagina? Because see...anyway..."

My God. thought Sif Finnhald. "Chancellor, like I was saying it's an honor to meet you. Why do so few of your men attend or excel at university?"

Adena ignore that first thing and answered the question. "The men here are unwilling to do anything that they think is a waste of time."

[New Edom]

Sif patted the seat next to her. "Chancellor, please sit and make us all comfortable. I understand that there is a lot going on in both our nations right now." she smiled. "I'd love to make plans to visit your country. I hope you feel free to ask us how things are going in our own. Feminism is a big struggle there. For myself, I spent my first years as a young woman first as a professional kick boxer, then as as an actress in action films. It was hard getting into both and not just being a cutie. I had to work harder than the men for the most part, just to get recognition. At the same time...I have achieved a lot. Now there are so many questions we have, following our civil war, about what direction our country must take."

"Chancellor, are you alright with being the only one without clothing here?" Dr. Elizabeth Salt asked politely. "I hope that doesn't come across as rude."

[South East Europe]

Sif patted the seat next to her. "Chancellor, please sit and make us all comfortable. I understand that there is a lot going on in both our nations right now." she smiled. "I'd love to make plans to visit your country. I hope you feel free to ask us how things are going in our own. Feminism is a big struggle there. For myself, I spent my first years as a young woman first as a professional kick boxer, then as as an actress in action films. It was hard getting into both and not just being a cutie. I had to work harder than the men for the most part, just to get recognition. At the same time...I have achieved a lot. Now there are so many questions we have, following our civil war, about what direction our country must take."

"Chancellor, are you alright with being the only one without clothing here?" Dr. Elizabeth Salt asked politely. "I hope that doesn't come across as rude."

Adena ordered that someone fetch her some clothing and she put them on, "Is that better for you?" Adena then smiled, "Well, in my nation, Men had more power for far too long, but now it is just as easy for women to achieve"

[New Edom]

Sif patted the seat next to her. "Chancellor, please sit and make us all comfortable. I understand that there is a lot going on in both our nations right now." she smiled. "I'd love to make plans to visit your country. I hope you feel free to ask us how things are going in our own. Feminism is a big struggle there. For myself, I spent my first years as a young woman first as a professional kick boxer, then as as an actress in action films. It was hard getting into both and not just being a cutie. I had to work harder than the men for the most part, just to get recognition. At the same time...I have achieved a lot. Now there are so many questions we have, following our civil war, about what direction our country must take."

"Chancellor, are you alright with being the only one without clothing here?" Dr. Elizabeth Salt asked politely. "I hope that doesn't come across as rude."

Adena ordered that someone fetch her some clothing and she put them on, "Is that better for you?" Adena then smiled, "Well, in my nation, Men had more power for far too long, but now it is just as easy for women to achieve"

Dr. Salt burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm not mocking you--I was getting all set to strip or something so you didn't feel alone. So what do you mean, that the current government is demonstrating a balance of some kind?"

Sif remarked, "Apropos of that, I know some nations here have totally reversed the general trend of male dominated leadership, but what the Chancellor has done suggests the possibility of challenging the idea of male dominated leadership, with the idea of achieving true equality. This conference was started by a Gynocentric nation, and most of the nations here are Gynocentric. I'm curious about what others here think of the idea of equality. Is it worth pursuing? Should countries pursue it, and to what end? I believe personally that both men and women have a great deal to contribute to society, but that it may be difficult for some men to share power with women..."

[Ateneia]

“You don´t need further elaboration” said Sophia, addressing to Jezhrala “as it´s seems that the situation of men in both our countries is very similar: they enjoy most of the rights, apart of voting, the same rights that they deny to women in so many nations in the world.”

Then she greeted the Chancelor of Listinea. She was shocked that the chancellor have decided to arrive to the summit totally naked, but she was able to hide it and greeted Adena Ryokun as if nothing unusual was happening. After all, the respect to all kind of cultures was one of the most important values in Ateneian society

(OOC: I think it will be better if we wrap up this day with a couple of posts, closing the theme of the three proposals, and then we proceed to the second day were the debate actually going on will be more fitting)

[Qwertonia]

Foreign Secretary of Qwertonia, Rosie Hardy (Reform Party), a timid thoughtful figure, decides to contribute to the debate while the issue is still relevant:

"I'd like to greet Qwertoria's fellow gynocracies and thank the government of Ateneia for inviting us. I am extremely concerned with the social role of men in our society, they appear to have become a parasitic underclass of beta-males. We have continued to maintain a minority of docile, thoughtful, dare I say feminine men but there is no function for them in society apart from the arts, theory and philosophy which our female population seem to have abandoned. How do our fellow nations think a male population can be practical without posing a threat to the rest of society?"

[New Edom]

Foreign Secretary of Qwertonia, Rosie Hardy (Reform Party), a timid thoughtful figure, decides to contribute to the debate while the issue is still relevant:

"I'd like to greet Qwertoria's fellow gynocracies and thank the government of Ateneia for inviting us. I am extremely concerned with the social role of men in our society, they appear to have become a parasitic underclass of beta-males. We have continued to maintain a minority of docile, thoughtful, dare I say feminine men but there is no function for them in society apart from the arts, theory and philosophy which our female population seem to have abandoned. How do our fellow nations think a male population can be practical without posing a threat to the rest of society?"

"Parasitic?" wondered Sarah Carmel. "How are they parasitic? Well to start with I think that men and women need to balance one another. If men learn to respect women more, are they not then more likely to wait before insisting on aggression? And if women learn to be more confident in their own right without depriving men of power to do it, won't they be all the more powerful in being able to hold their own when men are around and power is available to them? I can't help but think of dolphins, one the cleverest of mammals, who have roles for gender that can be very complex and constantly seek out the best harmonies like a brilliant composer."

[Qwertonia]

Ms Hardy nods and accepts the views of her New Edomian counterpart:

"We have strict laws about the supervision of males in our society which may or may not reflect my personal views. In schools, boys are sent in to separate classes and assigned classroom assistants in order for them to keep up with girls. In adulthood, men are assigned guardians who have some responsibility for the man's whereabouts and lawfulness, these guardians are usually Community Police Officers or State Administrators. Some men are subsidised to contribute artistic products for the people's galleries, these are considered the lucky ones but a considerable fraction of the population don't value the arts and think time and money is wasted on men. My party campaigned for greater male integration but the terms of our coalition are allowing us to just about keep what we have. Public opinion of men is divided and this is the biggest social issue in Qwertonia."

[The Shrailleeni Empire]

Aryni managed to maintain her poise in the midst of these rather startling events, which was no mean accomplishment. The Empire was matriarchal, but nudity was still rather frowned upon and certainly not commonplace. She hid her discomfort far better than Queen Freeda did, for the young woman was clearly flushed with embarrassment. She did not gauge Zattem's reaction, but she knew that her undersecretary could keep his calm as well as she could. Finally, she felt that she had to interject.

"What is this talk of equality and parasites? Surely the superiority of female rule is not in question here?"

She did her best to seem surprised, rather than disgusted.

"In the Empire, a woman would not dream of sullying her hands with base labor. Men are strong and capable, they are extremely valuable soldiers, policemen, farmers, and workers. They can be trusted to provide their labor and their lives in service to their wives, mothers, and sisters. That is their function. But certainly they cannot be trusted with the functions of state. Males are violent and unpredictable, and inevitably lead to the ruin of the nations that they run. That is the wisdom of the Empire, and I cannot see how any man in a position of power can be trusted to act with the maternal care required of a ruler."

She ended on a matter-of-fact note, and was visibly stern.

[Qwertonia]

Rosie addressed Aryni's description of the Empire:

"Our concerns, as a government, with having a male proletariat, is the inevitable conflict which would come about as they are pushed too far. The idea of a mostly male police force is unthinkable in Qwertoria, our gentle-handed, community-conscious policing would cease to be trustworthy if we had aggressive, territorial men abusing their position of power over female citizens. My party is in favour of giving some males low-level policing roles, like Traffic Wardens, we think that some men would feel more included if they saw one of their own on that side of the law but there is great opposition to this, women don't like men telling them what to do."

[South East Europe]

Adena laughed a little bit, "I see that most of you ladies here are nothing but simple hypocrites, you are a disgrace to the female gender and have no right to call yourselves caring." Adena then whispered to the woman that came with her and they both started laughing. "We are a female-dominated society by far and there are some positions reserved only for women like the position that I have here but we do not ban men from doing anything that women are capable of doing, we do not want to become like male-dominated societies of the past. Also, only female-identified or feminine-behaving individuals may enter into our nation but surely we do not persecute the males like you have done here."

[Qwertonia]

Rosie failed to contain her emotions upon hearing allegations of hypocrisy:

"I fail to see how we can be considered hypocrites if we never sought equality in the first place. To me equality will always be an ideal situation but like many other ideal situations, it is extremely difficult to get there without facing problems. We have always maintained that men should be controlled at every level of society, so that they realise the need for female authority whilst still being treated as human beings with a need to socialise and have a career. I believe that nations who fail to control their men are doing wrong by law-abiding women and also vulnerable young men who can easily be led in to aggressive subcultures. Without a traditional nuclear family (in our society) we need to provide all men and women with strong female role models."

Ms Hardy sits down and sighs, realising that she had just got a lot off her chest.

[The Shrailleeni Empire]

Aryni also bristled at the uncouth and dangerous tones of Adena, which went against all of her royal breeding. Such words, even not directed at herself, would be cause for reprimand and scandal in the Royal Court. She decided the address the Qwertonian delegate first, to ease her feelings.

"Well, if it is the fear of a male uprising that you suffer from, the Empire can only share our own advice. Our first Mother Empress seized power from a brutal dictator who was disliked by women and men alike. After assuming the throne, she decreed that the Empire would be one of maternity, not oppression. All men in the Empire are educated, and installed with feelings of compassion and service for the women around them. It would be, in our culture, an unthinkable crime for a man to oppress a woman. The few deviants who break this tradition are dealt with immediately and severely. I am afraid I cannot describe it in any more detail, the concept of man serving woman is simply ingrained in us. For nations like yourself, I can only advise allowing your men a few more freedoms without losing control, and promise that in the case of violence the Empire would be more than willing to lend it's sword to your cause."

Finally, she added a short reply to Adena.

"The rule of women is infinitely superior to the rule of men, the two are incomparable. It is a strongly-held belief of the Empire that for all of the faults of our species, the female gender is naturally gifted with more patience, compassion, and understanding. Your policies seem enlightened enough from your description, but I would warn you not to fall into the trap of seeing male rule and female rule as equal in any way."

[Qwertonia]

Rosie, switches to a less formal tone:

"That is an interesting story, the issue of compatibility rises though, because Qwertonians are a complacent people because we've always looked after each other, since fleeing the patriarchy of the old country, which is not taught in schools for good reasons. Our diplomatic visits, like this one, have made us realise that we are a fairly lazy nation, that's the utopian slumber-party we've created, it would seem. We have seen that some men have been found to hold disrespectful rebellious attitudes, they were punished and reformed because of it but we do worry about minority of men who think Qwertonia owes them a living. The sad thing is that most of the boys I have met clearly love their matriarchs as family members."

[Ateneia]

(OOC: as it seems that we are too deep into the ideological debate, lets consider that we are already in the second day)

[New Edom]

OOC: personally I think the debate is very interesting...it's the most fun of it so far. But it could also be smoothed out to be a presentation of viewpoints, which might be helpful. Good ideas don't flourish in a vacuum.

[Ateneia]

“I agree with Qwertonian and Shrailleenian delegations” said Sophia “we don´t pretend to be egalitarian. In a perfect world, everybody would have the chance to participate in the government. But in reality, that only means to allow the tyrants, the conquerors, the fanatics and the torturers a chance to get the reins of power. Since the Neolithic, humanity had suffered the blight of phalocracy with its wars, its fanaticism and its oppression. Here in Ateneia, we have build a society where women are allowed to rule: the utopia we have build is plain to see. If to achieve that, we have to keep the power away from men, that´s a sacrifice we are willing to do.”

[Ali-Zebu Union]

Jezrahla, Sanjali, and Mai had a whispered discussion. Mai smiled at the other delegates and spoke.

“It is certainly interesting what all of you have said and perhaps you might be interested in what I have to say as well.”

She stretched her arms and continued.

“While I come from the same nation as my companions here, the region I administer is somewhat different from the rest of the nation. Neither sex holds more authority than the other in the Ichi-Holt SAR. When my ancestors fled their home and settled in Ali-Zebu, they were quite the patriarchs. Despite this, they were not coerced or forced in any way to conform to the local cultural norms. Of course, after centuries of close and intimate interaction with the other cultures of the nation, the people of the SAR now represent a compromise between the patriarchal past and the matriarchy that surrounds them.”

“You know, the former Chief Executive of the Ichi-Holt SAR was a man. He is a very intelligent, capable, and compassionate person who I consider a good friend.”


“Of course, since I beat him in the last election, perhaps that means I am slightly more charismatic or perhaps prettier.”

Mai laughed.

[Qwertonia]

Rosie addressed Mai's points:

"We in Qwertonia feel that regional devolution could pose a threat to national culture, without wanting to cause personal offence, the gender/power situation in your region is the exact situation which leads us to have one national government."

[New Edom]

Sarah Carmel suddenly burst out laughing. "Sorry, not trying to insult anyone, but really, honestly, I see a tiny handful of nations here, with a particular ideal that only a few other nations want to follow. Do you honestly believe that forming some kind of small community of nations based on let's admit it, fear of male power, is going to be successful? Trust me, the only reason why your doors are not being battered down is no one has noticed you yet or hasn't noticed anything they want. Listen: take it from one who had 'token bitch' written on the door of her office when she joined a law firm for the first time: you have to be bold and thick skinned." she sipped from her fifth martini--or was it? she couldn't remember.

Sif sighed. "My friend is...well...blunt, but I think she makes a point. And there's another one: how do you want women outside of your coalition to see you? What kind of hope do you offer? That only in a society dominated by women will they come into their own? What about all the women and girls out there who dream of careers and future plans--are they to imagine only a better world on the crushed hopes of men? I'm not entirely clear what you're offering people. And whatever my friend Sarah says, I'd be interested in hearing I guess testimonials--what is life like in Qwertonia for example? You know I'd almost like to put together some kind of quesionnaire for all of us, like we fill in the blanks and that gives all of us a picture of what life for women is like, what life for men is like, government, arts, spirituality, the works...is anyone with me on this?"

[Qwertonia]

Rosie: "We'd be happy to participate in any survey to aid understanding. If your staff can prepare such a document, it would be an interesting element of the summit. We would also point you to our factbook for information on Qwertonia."

[The Shrailleeni Empire]

Aryni decided that she disliked Sarah Carmel. She, at least, was acutely aware of the truth of her statements. But the idea of being attacked by other powers was both frightening and distasteful to Shrailleeni pride. For centuries they had been the greatest power in their tiny domain, conquering and assimilating with impunity. Now they faced a very real threat from the World-Without-Mothers, surrounded by aggressive states. And they would do everything in their power to ensure Shrailleeni dominance would rise again.

"A coalition is exactly as powerful as the member states which make it up. The Empire is well aware of the danger posed by the World-Without-Mothers. Patriarchies cannot be trusted. It is better to be in the company of a few friends than to lend one's sword to a brigand, and so it is better to form a small alliance of trust than a larger one of suspicion."

She pondered the second question a little longer before responding. The Empire was more interested in securing power than providing help to foreigners, but she had to be diplomatic in her response.

"Each nation here has its own ideal, and offers something different for women within their borders. But, in general, what the Empire views this coalition as is the offer for women everywhere to reach their full potential, without the constraint of petty male laws and restrictions."

"The Empire would be willing to form an official statement on the issues that you have mentioned, Lady Sif, if the the other representatives are so inclined as well."

[New Edom]

Sif considered a moment, and said, "Well, obviously it is up to the Gynocratic nations to decide whether to form a coalition or not, and to be honest we're used to having to stand up and argue our points a lot with political opposition. Perhaps it is not so with some of the other nations represented here, and I apologize if it seems like we got rather aggressive. We did come here in sisterhood, even if it is a strange form of it to many here. In the meantime, I apologize to our Hostess if it seems we are messing with the agenda. I'd like to ask what she suggests the next move of the conference is."

Dr. Elizabeth Salt was relieved Sif had spoken thus. The New Edomite women were used to the cut and thrust of their own native politics and dealing with their various foreign allies, foes and trading partners, and that was clearly out of place here...

[Ateneia]

(OOC: as I said two posts ago, I think that it´s better that we assume that we are already in the second day, the one dedicated to the ideological debate. As thedebate is going on since several posts ago, I think that this solution will work better for the continuity of the RP.)

“Mrs Carmel, I think that your conclusion are biased.” Said Sophia “First of all, your references about our own insignificance and that this is the only reason for not being invaded for some foreign power are... short-sighted, and please don´t take offence for that. We are in the twenty-first century, and the wars we fought in Ateneia are those of the ideologies, with memes, ideas and freedom of information as our weapons. We are, and we always will be, militant pacifists, and this is one of the things that give us strength in the battles of ideas. And of course, in case that any nation less socially evolved tries to invade us, they should bear in mind that some of our allies, like the Queendom of Gynocracy, are quite adept to the use of violence too… regarding “the crushed hopes of men”, I don´t see any of them here in Atenia. They are allowed to live full, free lives just like the women. They monopoly of the political power by the women is not the frivolous decision of a tyrant, but the conclusion of a careful sociological observation of human societies. Of course, I don´t pretend that our society is perfect, but as the protesters outside the university showed us, every country has its own contradictions.
And I´m full in favor of the idea of the survey. As I have said, freedom of information is our weapon.”

[Gynocracy]

Carol Brathwaite had been listening carefully and saying almost nothing. She knew how ground-breaking the very idea of a gynocratic summit was and she also knew how extreme her own nation of Gynocracy was considered by some of the other delegates.

"I think we all need to learn to compromise," she said carefully. "For example, I am not at all surprised by nudity. In Gynocracy, public nudity is the norm for all inhabitants, of all ages and both genders. I only wore clothes to this meeting so as to avoid giving any kind of offence. At home I spend almost all my time naked."

She also carefully considered her next words.

"I appreciate that there will be differences of opinion on what gynocracy, matriarchy, feminism and so on mean. In our Queendom we are guided by Her Magnificence Queen Linda the Magnificent and us politicians always have to allow her the last word. Fortunately most of the time she allows us to get on with running the country but at times her intervention has been invaluable."

Sipping a drink before continuing, Carol added her thoughts to the mix.

"For us, men cannot be allowed to vote, stand for public office, carry guns (except police officers and military personnel), serve on juries or be in any position of authority or responsibility over females. We also arrange their marriages for them so that we can avoid any unsuitable liaisons and although it would be fair to say that most of the economic power and wealth in Gynocracy is in the hands of females there ARE wealthy men. Mainly in the sporting or entertainment fields, admittedly, but they do exist. And we are a summit of fairly like-minded nations. Of course we will have differences of approach, of methods, and all that kind of thing. It doesn't mean we can't reach agreement. Surely diplomacy is at least partly about compromise and concession?"