Gender Is No Object / Real Life

• Several European monarchies (e.g., Sweden and Belgium) now allow the firstborn to inherit regardless of gender, and others are considering the change.
  • Japan seriously considered the change when then-Crown Prince (now Emperor as of 2019) Naruhito's daughter Aiko appeared likely to be his only child. Then his younger brother Fumihito fathered a son, Hisahito, and the discussion ended.
  • England made a first tentative step toward this when it came to their monarchy back with Queen Mary I (daughter of Henry VIII and older sister of Elizabeth I). It should be noted, however, that Mary only became Queen because her younger brother Edward (who had already reigned as King Edward VI) died with no issue and she was next in line for the throne. However, for the next 500 years (or so) England and its successor state, Great Britain, practiced male-preference primogeniture: i.e. a woman would inherit only if she had no brothers. That rule changed in March 2015, when the Perth Agreement came into effect, changing the law to absolute primogeniture (eldest child inherits regardless of gender) in all the Commonwealth Realms, the 17 countries that retain the British monarch as their own head of state (that is, as their own monarch). Ironically, at the time, it didn't much matter, as the Queen's eldest child was male, his eldest child was male, and his eldest child was male. However, Princess Charlotte was born less than two months later and was duly placed just below her older brother in the line of succession.
  • The Dutch monarchs have been predominately female for the past century (the current is male, although he has had 3 daughters so far, so the one after him will be female) with straight primogeniture. The only distinction can be found in the monarch's spouse: a King's wife gets the title of Queen, but a Queen's husband is not called King, but Prince-companion. Possibly, people were worried that King sounded more important than Queen, and didn't want others to think that the guy that married into the royal family was the big shot.
    • Also directly related to why the Luxembourgian monarchy is not following this trope. When a woman inherited the Dutch throne, they basically dug up an old law that says only men can inherit theirs and thus won their independence. Two generations later, however, they abolished Salic law anyway because the man who became Grand Duke following the accession of Queen Wilhelmina had been a 17th cousin of her father, and when that man's son had no surviving sons, he changed the law so his daughter inherited rather than subject anyone to having to dig up another distant relative.
    • This is very similar to the role of the "Prince Consort" of the Commonwealth realms (Albert for Victoria, and Philip for Queen Elizabeth), which operates on the same principle: he married into royalty and has all the same perks, but he still must walk "one step behind" his Queen. The idea is basically the spear counterpart to the "Queen Consort" (a Queen who married into the family rather than a "Queen Regnant", which is a ruling Queen).
    • Only Albert actually held the formal title Prince Consort in the UK (and is likely to always have this distinction); Philip is formally just HRH Prince Philip.
  • Modern-day monarchies tend to follow one of three patterns: gender is ignored (this trope, in other words), females can inherit, but males take preference (exactly how much preference is given varies, so this pattern incorporates a lot of variation), and females can't inherit.
  • The Russian monarchy traditionally had little objection toward women on the throne, starting way back with princess Olga, though men usually held priority. Another early example was princess Sophia, the elder sister of Peter I and Ivan V, though she was technically a Regent to the still-minor co-Tsars, and not a ruling monarch. But it really shone during the XVIII century, commonly dubbed "Бабье царство" or "Women Reign": the succession law left over by Peter the Great was very vague, as if intentionally inviting the adventurous princess to take a shot at the throne, and he himself died of illness rather suddenly without designating a successor. This led to his widow Catherine I succeeding him, and a whole bunch of women after that-his niece Anna Ioannovna, his daughter Elisabeth, and, finally, his granddaughter-in-law Catherine the Great. Most of these women were weak rulers, though, being easily manipulated, except the last one. Catherine the Great's son Paul I, though, was sick of the palace atmosphere, and being a great admirer of all things Prussian instituted a very strict male primogeniture in the Prussian fashion, which survived all the way to the end^note and caused a whole lot of tragedy for the last of the dynasty; had Nicholas II's eldest child, his daughter Olga Nikolaevna, been permitted to succeed him, much if not all of the tragedy that befell the family would likely have been mitigated.
• Most modern military forces around the world allow women to serve in most roles. Generally, however, women are restricted from serving in front-line infantry, armored units, and special forces (though these bans have gradually eroded over time in most Western countries, and many don't have any restrictions at all). Most will claim it's out of a sense of fairness, and it may well be, but in a lot of cases, it's initially motivated by a shortage of recruits.
  • The United States Armed Forces has no bans against women in any military role as of December 2015, following a transitory process that began in January 2013 when the Combat Exclusion Policy was lifted by then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, and already has female combat engineers, artillery operators, infantrywomen, and even special forces operatives in the Army Rangers. Of course, this was just when the policy was "officially" lifted. As many in favor of gender integration have pointed out, the blurred lines of modern warfare have made that every member of the armed forces is essentially a combat troop. Also, the US Navy has a long history of powerful female military personnel. Admiral Michelle J. Howard is the former Vice Chief of Naval Operations^note which, as the name implies, is the second highest position in the entire Navy, and Vice Admiral Nora W. Tyson was the commander of the entire naval Third Fleet.
  • Canada's military is fully integrated and has been since 2001 when the last holdout (submarine service, for the entirely practical reason they didn't have submarines equipped for female crew members until then) had its prohibition against women serving aboard lifted.
  • The Soviet Union made much to do about the number of women in their Air Force. The first two women in space and the only two female flying aces were Soviets. They also had tankers, snipers, and a good many partisans.
    • This was only during the Great Patriotic War (a.k.a. The Eastern Front of World War II for those unfamiliar with the Russian term), due to severe personnel shortages. After the war, as in Western countries, there was strong pressure for women to retire from the "dangerous" frontline roles.
    • In the modern Russian military women are allowed to serve in a non-combat (but not non-frontline) roles only, though there is some discussion of allowing them the greater participation, again mainly due to the manpower shortages.
  • Israel has one of the more gender-balanced armies in the world. It's also one of the few where women are subject to conscription like the men, though they are more likely than men to get an exemption and have to serve a minimum of two years instead of the men's three. They are placed in combat units only if they volunteer to do so, though it should be noted that most combat units are male-exclusive due to potential problems with a unit's social dynamic (for example, tests have shown that male combatants tend to lose their better judgment when a female comrade is injured much more readily then if a male comrade is wounded). Female pilots are still allowed and are relatively common.
  • In Eritrea, everyone has been subject to the draft since 1995, with the only exception being pregnant women.
• There's a theory that ancient Neanderthal society might have been like this, with women and children joining men out in the hunt.
• In the 2012 Paralympic Games the wheelchair rugby tournament, often proudly self-identified as one of the most brutal contact sports to be legally played, included two mixed-gender teams.
• Archaeological research has uncovered evidence that women fought in the ancient Persian military. The Scythians, a neighboring people, also apparently had women warriors who fought alongside men with the same armor, weapons, soldiers' tattoos, and burial rites. They may have been the inspiration for the mythical Amazons.