Your biggest gripe with Mat seems to be his disrespect to powerful women. You seem almost obsessed with it. Most of the powerful women I have seen in WOT want to order men around. This was not the order of things in the AOL. Men and women were equal and treated each other with mutual respect. A lesson these "powerful women" are slowly learning. The AS inability to order Mat around is IMO the reason they come to like and respect him. It is common among young 20 y/o and under males to think of women as items with "bosoms" and "bottoms" which they desire to sleep with. As men grow older and more experienced in life their outlook (in most cases) changes. To expect a 20 year old with your experience in university indoctrination to possess your enlightened attitude is absurd. And yes it is indoctrination wether you wish to believe it or not.