When Women Rule the World

Lavidia

The Park

"Mommy, how would the world be if men weren't so silly?"

Lavidia watched her brother's foolish behaviour as he played with other boys in that park. The mother pondered the question for a moment, and after seeing her son get hit by a stone, she said, walking towards him:

"The world would be much worse, sweetheart. If men had our abilities, humanity would be engaged in constant wars, and cruelty and oppression would spread everywhere."

The mother separated the two fighting boys and comforted her crying child who now sat on her lap, while she used a handkerchief to clean the blood that was beginning to ooze from a budding bump. The daughter continued:

"But, mommy, we wouldn't allow that, right? We wouldn't let them ruin everything."

"No, of course not, Lavi. That would only happen if, in addition to being as intelligent as we are, they were also stronger."

"But would society have survived in such a world?"

"Hardly," the mother replied. "And if it did," she continued, "it would be a world of straight lines, full of useless grand constructions made to demonstrate their power, with wasted spaces..."

"And much uglier!" the daughter added.

"Certainly. But you know what? The worst part wouldn't be that Lavi. The worst part would be that they would be the benchmark, and we would spend our lives sighing to do what they do."

The daughter hesitated for a moment and said:

"What nonsense! I would never waste my time playing silly games like chasing a ball, or...," she looked to her right, "or competing with other girls to see...," she laughed, watching what a couple of boys were doing beyond, "competing to see who has the biggest breasts."

The mother smiled as well and said:

"You would, Lavi, you would. Deep down, we're a bit silly too, and we let ourselves be carried away. I assure you that if men ruled the world, we would even give up having daughters just to be like them because we would want to do the same things they do."

"Give up motherhood?" the girl widened her eyes and put on a look of total disbelief while trying to imagine such a horrible world.

Lavidia had just turned fifteen and was eager to become a mother. Although, in fact, she could have been one much earlier, as she had started menstruating at thirteen. But the law prohibited having daughters so soon.

Moreover, she had already chosen the one who would be the father of her children, who, as it could not be otherwise, would be Batro, the brother of her best friend, Bashia. The boy was already 16 and was not as brutish as the rest of his peers despite having high levels of testosterone. Well, she wasn't certain about the latter, but everything seemed to indicate it, as the boy was always 'touching himself.'

In addition, there was another significant advantage to that boy, and it was that he was a redhead, just like her. It wasn't clear how a redhead could be born in Lavidia's family, since none of her parents nor any of her sisters had red hair. On Batro's side, it was more evident, as the boy's father did have red hair, although not his mother. Since the gene that produces reddish hair is a result of a mutation in the DNA sequence, Laba, Lavidia's mother, speculated about the possibility that her daughter had undergone that mutation, and therefore, could now pass it on to her offspring —someone has to be the first one—, she said. Although there was also a rumour that she had been switched at the hospital when she was born. An unlikely theory, but Ladia, the youngest daughter, considered it true, as her sister was taller and somewhat different from the rest of the family.