Girls Rule in Oz

It's curious that, as I reside in Australia, writing a book on 16th century women in power (the manuscript is tentatively titled "Rogue Madonnas"), the folks Down Under have just elected their first female Prime Minister. The last (and only other) time I lived in a country with a female in charge was in England in 1980 when Margaret Thatcher held tightly to her stiff handbag and ruled with an iron fist. She was deemed "The Iron Lady." Thirty years later, Jillian Gillard, the new Aussie PM, has been dubbed "The Red Queen." Good grief! Admittedly Gillard has the worst hair colorist in the southern hemisphere, but is that any reason to link her with the one-dimensional "off-with-their-heads" symbol of tyranny from Alice in Wonderland? For the record, if a male Prime Minister had that hair color, I would be much (much!) more critical. Meanwhile, what can an American say? The US still has not elected a female president or vice president (full disclosure: I voted for Obama--I had my reasons, and fingers crossed that I didn't make the wrong choice).

There are three levels of female overlordship in Australia at the moment--the British Queen is still the nominal head of the country; her representative, The Governor-General, referred to as "her excellency," is also female. And then there's Gillard, the one who's really running the show. I have to admit, that's super cool. Sure we Americans threw out the monarchy long ago, but we are nowhere near achieving this kind of gynocratic representation in our government.