麻豆淫院

Rulers have traditionally relied on masculinity to display their ability to govern. Or have they?

New research suggests that throughout history鈥攁nd within many cultures鈥攎ale monarchs have often been positively portrayed as maternal.

"Good rulers should be strong warriors and upright against injustice. But they also need to be nurturing and caring," said Luis Corteguera, professor of history at the University of Kansas.

In a study titled "King as Mother: Gendered Metaphors of Power in Early Modern Europe," Corteguera and his co-author explore this concept using biblical and classical sources and evidence from nature to describe the authority of male rulers across early modern Europe. The metaphor contributes to cultural understanding of female authority and of the effectiveness of women's agency based on the same allegories and images.

The research in the Journal of Women's History.

"It's hard to wrap your head around what this means," Corteguera said. "I had seen a medievalist write about Christ as mother, which is an easy metaphor to understand because theology and spiritual things are kind of malleable. But then I began seeing it elsewhere and kept wondering to what extent male monarchs could be thought of as mothers."

Co-written by Irene Olivares, a professor at Johnson County Community College who earned her doctorate at KU, the article looks at how such maternal imagery contributed to kings' authority, laws and governance. It argues that specific depictions鈥攍ike a nursing king鈥攈elped writers promote an image of male leaders as accessible and approachable, reinforcing the idea of an intrinsic bond between ruler and subject based on the relationship between mother and child.

"Some of the images, like illustrating French king Francis I with male and female body parts, are metaphorical. But in this period, the language of symbols and emblems is very powerful, and people responded to striking images," he said.

The concept is hardly limited to that period. Egyptian pharaohs are sometimes represented through the image of the Nile. And the Nile, which feeds Egypt, is often represented as a male with breasts. Because of that metaphor, pharaohs are sometimes shown with breasts.

It is even contained in the Bible. Isaiah 49:23 states: "And kings shall be thy nursing fathers and their queens thy nurses."

"You see it in pre-Columbian America, in African cultures, in Asian cultures. We find examples from India, Japan and China. This idea of combining maternal and paternal instincts and virtues exists in many cultures over many centuries," Corteguera said.

The impetus for the article sprang from Olivares's research into the history of petitions to a king.

"She was looking at women writing letters to the king of Spain and asking for things. We had been noticing how there was consistent language of appealing to the king as someone with sentiments that were not necessarily manly," he said.

Considering this pattern has been going on for millennia, current U.S. President Donald Trump could also benefit from being perceived as more maternal, Corteguera said.

"On the surface, it might seem impossible for Trump to act like this. He likes to be so macho and masculine. But certainly there's no way he could have the platform he has without conveying being more than just an assertive, aggressive person," he said. "When he talks about being assertive, it's usually in a protective way. He is protecting Americans from all those dangers, whether they're immigrants or criminals or radical politicians. So that protective aspect could be hinting at those soft sides of power."

Now in his 31st year at KU, Corteguera studies early modern European history, specializing in Spain, the Spanish Empire and Catalonia. He is a native of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

"I'm always interested in trying to understand how we make sense of power," he said.

"While we all recognize that power as a force is very clear, it's interesting to see how that is often not enough. I've seen references to Mao and Stalin, some of the most egregious tyrants of history, who discuss how power is ultimately about convincing people. It's about images and impressions. This metaphor of the king as mother seems to be another aspect of that."