Ann Lee was the founder of the United Society of Believers in
Christ's Second Appearing, better known as the Shakers. She
and her followers believe(d) that she was the reincarnation of
Jesus. As far as I know, there was no ironic intent.
Granted, we hear about more men than women who believe
themselves chosen to save the world, but I don't know--and
don't know how we could go about finding out--whether this
is because men are more likely to believe it, or whether they're
more likely, if they do believe it, to be able to gather followers
and thus be noticed. If there is a non-gender-specific "I am the
chosen one" meme, and a meme (also hosted by both men
and women) that says "the chosen one will be a man," women
with the first meme will have less influence.
Vicki
rosenzweig@acm.org