My wife was reading about Esther in the Bible, and said, men have so much control over women. The king demanded all the young virgins to see him and then would choose one to be his queen. They had no choice in the matter.

I replied that kings and queens in those days had life and death power over all their subjects, male and female. For men, they were chosen to go to war to be maimed or slaughtered, by the tens of thousands. In Esther's case, she was entered into a lottery to potentially place her as one of the most privileged and powerful in her society based on nothing but her person/beauty. The king's decision would affect one woman living in relative obscurity and actually elevate her to unimaginable power and privilege.

I find it amazing how so many women can twist narratives to support the female victim narrative.