Why?
I think she should still be called Empress. It's not a lesser or weaker position, just a matter of gender. Maybe it's a mistranslation.
So you’re saying empress is a weaker title it’s 2025 now come on
Historically it is. The title of Empress means that there MUST be an Emperor - and in a lot of cases they would be forced to take a husband so he can rule even if he wasn't apart of the family line SIMPLY because it's a woman ruling. Even in Egypt there's a Pharaoh who's title was "Her Majesty, The King" because Queen requires a King, but not vice versa.
Historically, that's because female rulers were treated with double standards, and were seen as lesser or dependent on a male counterpart. But that doesn’t mean the titles themselves are lesser. Language-wise, "Empress" is just the feminine form of "Emperor".
It’s similar to how "Lord" became associated with "master of the house" while "Lady" was reduced to "wife of a lord". That’s a reflection of historical misogynistic treatment, not the actual meaning of the word.
Dictionary-wise, those titles are supposed to be equals. In practice, because of bias towards men, they treated the title Lady as less than the title of Lord.
Or how people think "Sir" commands more authority than "Ma’am" when in reality they’re just gendered honorifics.
So no, Empress isn’t less than Emperor. Nor should we reinforce the idea that women NEED male-coded titles like "Emperor" or "Sir" to be seen as powerful. Otherwise, we’re letting the old bias win instead of reclaiming the female titles as equally valid. (1/2)
Nailed it
Imagine Disney just started referring to Elsa as a King, just because she inherited the throne without getting married.
Or imagine calling any princess as a "prince" from now on just because they think that would make princesses look more powerful or independent.
See it doesn't make sense, they're still princesses, whether they have more power or not. King isn't a promotion from Queen, neither is Prince from Princess.
I remember that Phineas and Ferb episode, the interdimension one, where Candace is this badass who leads the revolution, but she's referred to as "Sir" instead of "Ma'am" presumably because they assume it commands more respect and leadership. Which is kinda bad that it implies that "Sir" equals respect and authority while "Ma'am" is just not intimidating enough, so they go with calling her "Sir".
So, to summarize: Do not normalize giving male-titles to women because it "feels" like it gives them more authority or power than the female-title. If historically they did it before, doesn't mean we have to carry it on.
Like the original comment, who has a very misled impression of the title "Emperor" vs "Empress", that is due to media exposure and historical bias.
History treated the all titles of women as lesser but it doesn't mean we should perpetuate it. Especially since this is a fantasy historical manhwa that is literally trying to promote a female authority figure who has struggled against the bias that only a male heir or ruler is allowed. Calling her an "Emperor" would undermine her struggles and effort to be an Empress. (2/2)
She is not. Official translation gave her the proper title.
I never understood this insistence of giving women masculines titles. I mean, in language they are gendered for a reason, aren't they? If anything, calling her "emperor" is what would give me the sense that an empress is less, instead of being equals.
A quick Google search of Empress and Empress Regent will prove you wrong. Language and Culture do not always coincide anyhow. Men and women were not (in many parts of history) equals, and their terms at the time reflected that.
So yes, Empress is supposed to be less than Emperor. Just because now we give more power to women doesn't mean suppressing women wasn't the original goal in MANY parts of history, might I reiterate.
So in a HISTORIC FANTASY MANWHA, it makes more sense to be named Emperor than Empress Regent as she was made to be the heir in the first place, and women IN THE MANWHA are being used as tools, therefore stating their political and cultural standing.
Generally, as a feminist I can be as "Women and Men are equals" as I want, but that's the whole point of feminism, to acknowledge the past and continue to the future with progression. But let's be historically accurate as we can be with stories based on a version of a culture's past.
I had a giant paragraph, then I realized, you clearly don't understand why "Emperor" should or could be used. And why "Empress Regent" is actually a lot worse. So nvm, I have my ideas, and you got yours. At the end of the day we both seem to be Feminists so it's never really that deep. I hope you enjoy(ed) the story and it's ending
^First of all, a quick google search will prove YOU wrong about the "Empress Regent" you keep repeating.
A "regent" is just a temporary ruler only for when the monarch is ill, absent from the country, or otherwise unavailable.
Lmao, I think you're looking for Empress Regnant, not Regent.
Kinda weird you’re suddenly twisting this into a discussion about Empress "Regent" specifically when it was clearly about the title Empress in general.
There’s Empress Regnant, Empress Consort, and Empress Dowager.
But YOU think "Empress" in general only means consort by default?
Take princesses, for example. When a woman marries into royalty, it's possible she can be called Princess Consort.
But does that mean all princesses are princess consorts by default? No, because a lot of them can be born into royalty, therefore are just called "the princess".
In history, rarely has a woman been allowed to become ruler by inheritance. That's why all these title variations even had to exist in the first place - to limit or define female authority.
Are you proposing we should bring those specific titles back just to discriminate women in power again?
While Emperors have never needed such title differences? But Empresses should?
You want historical accuracy?... in this magic-filled, regression, villainess, romance, "historical" manhwa??
Or do you just mean you want to apply the historically accurate *discrimination* against women?
You certainly haven't pointed out any OTHER historical inaccuracies in the manhwa.
Your misguided "feminism" will hurt the cause rather than help it.
It's a shit mistranslation bro what are you going on about.
You a lil slow, so do you chat
I'm glad she's being called "The Emperor" instead of "The Empress"