Can princess be a male term? Can you be honorary?

[jaime_lion 56]

I don't know about what happens in the 'journal of the two sisters', do they chose to be princesses or are they just born into the role? Are they just thrust into the role via trickery like Twilight was, or what?

 

It would have been a great example of self-determination if somepony became an alicorn and just said 'I don't want to be a ruler, screw that'.

 

The Unicorns, Earth Ponies, and Pegasi ruled themselves before Equestria was founded, so yes.

 

 

essentially the sisters write in their diary that starswirl the bearded and the three pony tribes picked them cause alicorns represent all three races of ponies. no more back story than that.

[Invincible 2,090]

Well, why not? Bear in mind we didn't see male alicorns in the show, so we'll have nothing to compare the female ones to.

 

For a honorary title, whether or not they have the alicorn body, bear in mind that all the princesses were entrusted with important charges, the Sun, the Moon, the Crystal empire, and finally, Magic (or friendship, depending on how you look at it). A male counterpart of the same status would need something to merit his position, a duty of his own.

[Vixor 80]

The reason I was thinking males would take the title princess is cause it is a matriarchal society and they would strive to be as close to a female as possible. To better serve there subjects. To show in a way that just cause I am male I am not better or worse than anypony else.

 

No, it's a female term.  Calling a male a 'princess' doesn't seem right, even if it is a matriarchal society, as you have said. 

 

Well, As I mentioned we already have Prince blueblood, so the word exists.

 

Whether or not the meaning is different we can't really know.

 

Still, if Equestria is a matriarchal society, then simply having a male changed to the title of "Princess" wouldn't lead to him becoming ruler, the ruler would have to be a female. Considering Matriarchal societies are ruled by women.

 

But there is no Equestrian dictionary or anything, so I can really go off human based terms, and based on those I'd have to say Princess couldn't be used for a male.

 

There's a big difference between a matriarchal government and a matriarchal society, and Equestria only seems to be the former, at least on the highest levels of authority, and there's no reason whatsoever to believe a stallion couldn't ascend, so it's quite possibly just a technicality. Of course, this is a cartoon that can only provide us with very limited information on stuff like this, so nobody can be totally sure, and I definitely don't claim to know for sure, but there does seem to be significant evidence in the show and comics pointing towards their society being egalitarian rather than matriarchal; that is, both mares and stallions have good careers and positions on a equal-scale from what we've seen, and there's not been any indication of discrimination, whether it be socially or economically.

 

I grow tired of reciting this to people, I'm afraid. And again, it's ultimately uncertain with the limited information you can salvage from the show, meaning that I or anyone else could end up being wrong to some extent; I emphasize that because I prefer to remain cautious when it comes to stuff that nobody can be totally sure about. The only thing I know is that again, from what we've seen in the show and the comics, mares and stallions seem and appear equal socially and economically, with seemingly equal accomplishments on average. It would be fair to admit that our exposure to social and economic affairs in Equestria have been somewhat limited, though again, what we have seen looks pretty egalitarian. And since the show is being marketed towards little girls, we do see the female characters get more screentime, but other than that there are good role models for both genders.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Vixor

[ManaMinori 4,144]

Well, if in their pony culture princess is more of a title refering to alicorns and their role in pony society (being powerful protectors) then it could be used as a male title as well.

having 'princess' as a title reserved strictly for alicorns is stupid. And I'll tell you why- there are other rulers outside of Equestria's borders that aren't alicorns. And even inside Equestria borders there were once rulers who carried the title of 'princess' even when the alicorns (coughLunaandCelestia) came to power, and AND living in the same land as those royals. In the Journal of the two sisters it mentions King Bullion and his daughter, princess- yes, PRINCESS Platinum, a royal family within Equestria.

[M'aiq the Liar 5,804]

having 'princess' as a title reserved strictly for alicorns is stupid. And I'll tell you why- there are other rulers outside of Equestria's borders that aren't alicorns. And even inside Equestria borders there were once rulers who carried the title of 'princess' even when the alicorns (coughLunaandCelestia) came to power, and AND living in the same land as those royals. In the Journal of the two sisters it mentions King Bullion and his daughter, princess- yes, PRINCESS Platinum, a royal family within Equestria.

Not really. The unicorn royal line no longer rules. So the king and queen titles may have very well left with them.

And those rulers are not Equestrian, no alicorns so the rule would not apply to them. Just like how America doesn't have a Prime Minister. It never mentions what happens to those familys, but unless you are watching a different show from the rest of us, they no longer have control over jack and shit. And jack just left town. The only prince ever mentioned is blue blood, and he is not a Alicorn, so it very well could be that Princess is a formal title given to the kingoms alicorn protectors.

[ManaMinori 4,144]

Not really. The unicorn royal line no longer rules. So the king and queen titles may have very well left with them.

And those rulers are not Equestrian, no alicorns so the rule would not apply to them. Just like how America doesn't have a Prime Minister. It never mentions what happens to those familys, but unless you are watching a different show from the rest of us, they no longer have control over jack and shit. And jack just left town. The only prince ever mentioned is blue blood, and he is not a Alicorn, so it very well could be that Princess is a formal title given to the kingoms alicorn protectors.

whether they no longer rule or not, the title of princess, as I already said, is not only exclusive to alicorns. That was the point I was getting at (and yes, they were Equestrian)