If men held all the power why did Tamino have to prove himself worthy of
Pamina, and why did Papageno at least have to try to do so with regard to
Papagena?

Relations between the genders and among racial and ethnic groups provide
a vital discussion topic for artists and historians in the US and through
out most of the rest of the world as well (or so I would suspect).  Art
often provides necessary documentation of these issues.  Every couple of
years in Missouri there's an issue in schools with regard to Mark Twain
whose characters frequently use racial epithets (as do those of many other
American writers).  Just this year there was a controversy here in DFW over
Uncle Remus.  This issue isn't gonna go away, folks, even if we pretend
that the art that documents it isn't there.

Aaron J. Rabushka
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http://www.cowtown.net/users/arabushk