User blog comment:Maybebaby83/female countries and feminism/@comment-2241574-20101008124048

This may sound discouraging, but biologically, males have stronger bodies than females; the differences in the level of hormones prevents females from ever truly matching up to males. If a woman had to face a man in terms of physical combat, the man will usually win (unless he's a wuss or he's chivalrous.) For me, I see the competition between countries to be very similar to wars (either beat or be beaten.)

So, can women actually be dominant? I would say yes, though not in terms of strength. There are other traits that woman can be superior (intelligence, appearance, etc.) If there is a country that is able to intimidate the others without resorting to a good amount of warfare, I would prefer that country to be female.

Hungary is kind of an exception to my first paragraph, which is why she is my favorite female character. At one point in her history, she was taking part in the fights and winning them. However, Himaruya shows that, as she got older, she was unable to follow after the males (kudos though, since she still wins against Prussia.)

For now, I will rely on Himaruya's judgment; it's his creation after all. But I will agree that the lack of (prominent) female characters is a little disappointing...(returns to comics about World 8)