Dragon Lady
"Why is it," asked columnist
Adrian Cristobal early this month, "that a powerful woman in Malacanang
is called 'Dragon Lady' while men with similar or worse motivations are
not called Ogre, Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster or Darth Vader? Your gender
bias is showing.''
The remark about gender
bias was directed at Rina Jimenez David, Mr. Cristobal's fellow columnist
in the Inquirer, who had earlier applied the dragon-lady sobriquet to Leonora
Vasquez-de Jesus, head of the Presidential Management Staff. On the day
that Mr. Cristobal raised the question about dragon ladies, Ms. David devoted
much her column to show that Ms. De Jesus was more lady than dragon.
Whatever the appropriateness
of the dragon-lady sobriquet to Ms. De Jesus, the dragon image is fascinating
because it connotes power in the mythologies of East and West -- but only
in the West does it carry a connotation of malevolence.
In Western Christian tradition,
the dragon is merely a more powerful kind of snake, and, like the snake,
is a symbol for Satan. In the Middle Ages, it was a symbol of sin in general
and paganism in particular. The Book of Revelations described Satan as
the Great Dragon. Many saints, including St. Michael, St. George, St. Margaret,
St. Philip the Apostle, have been pictured as slaying or otherwise vanquishing
the dragon.
In contrast, the Chinese
regard the dragon as a benevolent power. The dragon has been a symbol of
China since imperial times. China's present-day leaders have described
such highly successful countries as Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore
as "little dragons."
It seems, however, that
the Dragon Lady is not an element of either Eastern or Western mythology.
The Dragon Lady is part of American popular culture and is of fairly recent
origin. Strange as it may seem, the Dragon Lady originated as a comic strip
character -- in Milton Caniff's "Terry and the Pirates.''
The comic strip is about
Terry Lee, a clean-cut, young American adventurer who battles with pirates,
smugglers and other evil-doers along the China coast. The criminals he
fights include a gang headed by a Chinese woman known as the Dragon Lady.
The comic strip made its debut on Oct. 22, 1934; the Dragon Lady first
appeared in it on Dec. 13, 1934.
"Terry and the Pirates"
was made into a radio program, a TV program and a movie serial -- and in
all three, the Dragon Lady was a prominent villain. The Dragon Lady was
played on radio by Agnes Moorehead, Marion Sweet and Adelaide Klein, on
TV by Gloria Saunders, and in the movie serial by Sheila Darcy.
The real name of the Dragon
Lady is Lai Choi San. Her name means "Mountain of Wealth."
The next time I see Lenny
de Jesus, I will address her as Lai Choi San and ask about her mountain
of wealth.