Thoughts on the Empress?

[PiotrB]

FWIW, mine is a gender-neutral language. The terminology nevertheless is sharply gendered, there being separate words for King and (ruling or non-ruling) Queen, for Emperor and Empress, etc. and with a feminine suffix for most job titles. It's just a somewhat extraneous suffix most folks used to drop long before it became fashionable to shun gender-specific titles elsewhere. It hasn't affected anybody's perception of female hereditary rulers, though, since those are antiquated things and allowed to be a bit silly. No language insists on Presidentess, AFAIK...

It all depends on language, its grammar and local cultural norms. Your example of the word president, but also of any other word that describes a profession, a academic title, etc., of a person in some Slavic countries in relation to a woman, the female form is woke and the male form is conservative. So Georgiou in her insistence on the use of the masculine form would be seen in feminist circles in these countries as a tough conservatist.

 

[BillJ]

Yeoh is a great actor and fun to watch. I still think the character’s backstory was ill thought out and in poor taste. Much like Lorca, I would’ve rather seen something that broke Captain Georgiou’s faith in the Federation.

 

[fireproof78]

I for one am not the slightest bit sorry that we got what we got. The same with Lorca: we had several episodes to enjoy the "Oh, perhaps he's a traumatized badass" version before moving over to the "Oh, he was a scheming Mirror bastard all along and hid it really well but the signs were always there and of course I always knew" version, and neither one was lost in the process. We got it all, and are all the richer for the double experiences.

Timo Saloniemi

I personally would have liked both Lorca in either way. I don't mind Georgiou, but that's more because I like her as a reminder of Burnham's struggle than anything to do with the character of Georgiou. To me, Georgiou epitomizes the antithesis of the Federation and I like having that juxtaposition rather than the assumption our characters will also be heroic.

 

[The Wormhole]

Look, maybe I'm way the hell off base here, but...oh hell, I'll put it in spoilercode:

Spoiler

She IS a woman, so why is Empress not an appropriate title?

The writers stated back in the first season that they wanted to represent the Mirror Universe as gender neutral, and therefore Georgiou went with the masculine Emperor title instead of Empress. Indeed, you'll even note when her full name and titles were given, there other masculine titles and even a masculine name or two thrown in. With the exception of "Mother of the Fatherland" which was allowed because it was so cool.

Regardless, the point is, since Emperor is the title Georgiou used in the episode, that's her title. Calling her Empress is inaccurate and inappropriate.

 

[Timo]

But again, that would depend on translation. Was Cleopatra VII a Queen or a King? That is, after she got rid of her husband-brother and ruled sovereign. It's all Greek to me, but the Terrans seem to like Latin, especially when it comes to titles... We, the heroes, and other outside observers might get a few misconceptions that way.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[NCC-73515]

The writers stated back in the first season that they wanted to represent the Mirror Universe as gender neutral, and therefore Georgiou went with the masculine Emperor title instead of Empress.

I guess they wanted it to be a surprise, a huge plot twist, and a female title would've given it away.

 

[The Wormhole]

I guess they wanted it to be a surprise, a huge plot twist, and a female title would've given it away.

Yeah, that too. Along with the initial reference to the Emperor being "faceless" even though when she's introduced, Georgiou seems to be a public enough figure.

 

[Noname Given]

But again, that would depend on translation. Was Cleopatra VII a Queen or a King? That is, after she got rid of her husband-brother and ruled sovereign. It's all Greek to me, but the Terrans seem to like Latin, especially when it comes to titles... We, the heroes, and other outside observers might get a few misconceptions that way.

Timo Saloniemi

She was a Pharaoh. (Whether the Romans or Greeks felt she was a King or Queen is their issue.)

 

[Odo]

My typo will live in infamy...