Comparison Of Empress Wu And Pharaoh Cleopatra Of Egypt

Men have always ruled over everything from tribes to countries but there have been some women who held great powers. Most great women leaders only held these powers because of family connections or no male heirs were available. China and Egypt are two countries who had extraordinary women leaders who would stop at nothing to keep their throne. Empress Wu Zetian of China and Pharaoh Cleopatra of Egypt are two great women leaders who were not afraid to do things their way to get what they want. These two women ruled very differently yet they had a lot of similar qualities. Empress Wu and Pharaoh Cleopatra both used their beauty for their advantage in taking control and keeping control of their countries.
Empress Wu Zetian became the first

woman in more than 3,000 years of Chinese history to rule China. She first held power for more than half a century as an associate to the hopeless Gaozong Emperor. Then she was the power behind the throne held by her youngest son, then finally as monarch (Dash, 2012). She was ruthless and determined, she stabilized and combined the Tang dynasty when it appeared to be collapsing. It was implied Empress Wu first came to importance because she was willing to satisfy certain unusual sexual appetites of the Taizong emperors. She had the heart of a serpent and the nature of a wolf (Dash, 2012). The empress killed her sister, murdered her older brother, and poisoned her mother. She is equally hated by gods and men. Chinese historians agree that Wu killed her daughter to frame Lady Wang to gain power (Dash, 2012).
Pharaoh Cleopatra VII Philopator ruled Egypt jointly with her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes.

He died when she was 18 leaving her the throne, she was intended to become the last queen of the Macedonian dynasty. The Macedonian dynasty ruled Egypt between the death of Alexander the Great and Rome’s takeover (Mark, 2014). Egyptian tradition states a female needs a male associate, to rule, her 12 year-old brother Ptolemy XIII was ritually married to her. Cleopatra stopped using his name on official documents and ruled without him (Mark, 2014). She had a habit of making decisions without consulting the members of counsel which upset the high ranking officials. Cleopatra fled to Syria, where she gathered an army to return and face her brother. She realized she needed the Roman support of Julius Caesar if she would gain her throne back (Tyldesley,

2016).
Both Empress Wu and Pharaoh Cleopatra were strong willed get what you want queens. They didn’t let anything stand in their way. Cleopatra was born into the royal family and was destine to become queen, she ruled for 22 years then her daughter eventually became queen of what is now known as Algeria (Pappas, 2016). Wu was not born into the royal family, however, she saw what she wanted and took it, and ruled China until she was 82 and became sick. She relinquished her throne to her third youngest son (Pappas, 2016). China’s Empress Wu and Egypt’s Pharaoh Cleopatra were both famous woman leaders, from diverse cultures and time periods, however they both had similar but different ways of ruling their empire. Both women used their feminine appeal to their advantage. Empress Wu used her feminism to rise in power whereas Pharaoh Cleopatra used her beauty and lustfulness behaviors for political charm.
The culture of China and Egypt during Wu and Cleopatra’s rule was more strict, especially for woman compared to today’s modernized culture. It was rare to see a women ruler not to mention a women ruler who wasn’t afraid to do whatever it took to keep their power. A women in politics was very rare, now a days women are running large corporations, senators and running for president who if elected will be the first in the history of the U.S. to be president. It makes you stop and think, if all those years ago a women could run a country why couldn’t a women run one now.
Women can be just as good of leader as a man can be, and just as effective. There are many women in history who were great leaders and more and more women are taking on that role. The most powerful women comprise of 14% executive officers, 4% corporate CEOs and 20% of America’s government officials. To be effective at our jobs, we must first take a look at what is working (Goudreau, 2013). The world’s most successful women really want it and stay determined even when faced with obstacles. They put the time in and have the skills to do great things. You must be courageous, move toward your fear and challenge yourself. If you’re not learning if you’re not little bit scared every day. You must have a big impact to achieve success, think big (Goudreau, 2013). You have to be willing to take calculated risks, know what you have to gain and if you can afford to take the hit if things don’t go right. It takes discipline to achieve and maintain success, you can’t do everything. The best strategy for success would be to hire passionate, diverse people. The most successful women know they have to have help at work, at home and have faith in the people around them (Goudreau, 2013).
Empress Wu Zetian and Pharaoh Cleopatra were both strong leaders, they paved the way for all the strong women leaders who came after them.

Wu and Cleopatra showed that with determination you could have what you want. Both leaders stopped at nothing to get what they wanted, they didn’t care who they destroyed on their way. Women in the 21st century doing more than just having babies and keeping the house clean. They are running fortune 500 companies, in politics, running for president and moving up in their jobs. When in charge you need to be strong it doesn’t matter if you are a man or a women. It is being showed more and more that a women can do a man’s job, we have lots of women who take on men’s jobs and do well now if only women got paid like men. They do the same work with the same amount of hours, they should get the same amount of compensation.
References
Dash, M. (2012, August 10). The Demonization of Empress Wu. Retrieved May 18, 2016, from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-demonization-of-empress-wu-20743091/?no-ist
Goudreau, J. (2013, March 21). Eight Leadership Lessons from the World's Most Powerful Women. Retrieved May 21, 2016, from

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2013/03/21/eight-leadership-lessons-from-the-worlds-most-powerful-women/2/#e80e7e54dc8d
Mark, J. J. (2014, February 28). Cleopatra VII. Retrieved May 18, 2016, from http://www.ancient.eu/Cleopatra_VII/
Pappas, S. (2016). Top 12 Warrior Moms in History. Retrieved May 18, 2016, from http://www.livescience.com/14055-top-12-warrior-moms-history.html
Tyldesley, J. (2016). Cleopatra. Retrieved May 18, 2016, from http://www.britannica.com/biography/Cleopatra-queen-of-Egypt