as to the equality in fire emblem, I ask this: would having a male lord as the main character of the game and a female that possesses the ultimate power that allows the main character to win not be a form of equality? Perhaps that is the reasoning behind it. there have been some lesser male dragons as stated above but they reserve the role of awesomesaucebeastmode dragon/Incredible necessary force for the females because of the fact that a male has been the main character.
There are arguable exceptions with Erika/Ephraim and Micaiah( but she falls under incredible necessary force because of Yune).