I never knew that the female personification was also used negatively, but it makes a lot of sense. It's only been fairly recent (in the grander scheme of things) that women aren't seen as innately inferior and that typical feminine traits are submissive, negative and/or weak, so I can definitely see people latching on to that to make their argument. ...well, they still do things like that today, they just have to be a bit more underhanded about it. >.<

This kind of stuff is so interesting. You'd think symbols like that wouldn't mean that much, but they end saying all kinds of things, huh. ;) Like how most countries, regardless of their personifications, are referred to as feminine to imply ownership. Women are owned, and so the female land is also owned.

lol, Oedipus complex. That fits way too well!