Where my BA left off...

Medusa and Lilith

During my BA I decided to look at women with in myths that due to the patriarchal societies they were born into hundreds of years ago, became demonised for things men did freely.

The initial idea was to explore women from a range of cultures that were ostracised in one way or another. However due to covid and having a lack of time, funds and models, I had to alter it to look at just two women. For this I chose Lilith and Medusa.

One of the main things I wanted to do was explore how women were taught how to be; the expectations of them and how the women in the myths went against their ideals. Instead of becoming martyrs to the cause of women's rights way back then; they became warnings and bed time stories, telling women this is what they'd turn into if didn't be Obedient.

The way in which I did this was to combine portraiture with still life, representing opposing views. THe flowers were symbolic of femininity; delicate, soft, gentle.

Medusa

[TW: Mentions of SA and R!pe]

So why Medusa? Medusa's stories has altered recently; being told through a slightly different lens that suggests she was a victim of her own beauty and that it was taken from her in a way that empowered her. However this narrative is only a recent one, so what was the past ones? Well there was two. Medusa was one of three gorgons and the only one mortal which is how she was slain by Perseus. One narrative says she was born a gorgon with her two sisters however the more popular one is that she became a gorgon. "Legend states that Medusa was once a beautiful, avowed priestess of Athena who was cursed for breaking her vow of celibacy. She is not considered a goddess or Olympian, but some variations on her legend say she consorted with one.

When Medusa had an affair with the sea god Poseidon, Athena punished her. She turned Medusa into a hideous hag, making her hair into writhing snakes and her skin was turned a greenish hue. Anyone who locked gaze with Medusa was turned into stone. " [from https://www.thoughtco.com/greek-mythology-medusa-1524415 ]

More recently stories suggested that Medusa, a beautiful girl, was approached by Poseidon. Wen she refused to break her vow of chastity, the god took her anyway in a temple of Athena.

From this two more interpretations sprout:

• Medusa was punished in leu of Poseidon. Poseidon was one of the three big gods and a superior to Athena. While Athena could enact revenge on him, she could take out her wrath on Medusa.
• Much more favourable by modern feminists and survivors of what medusa experiences, is the interpretation that in actual fact, Athena gifted Medusa her own power. Power that prevented men from ever looking at her or touching her in a way that she became propery.

My work wanted to highlight this idea of Medusa being a powerful woman with the ability to decide who could gaze upon her. But earlier narratives also demonised her for being sexual. Even if she wasn't a victim of r!pe she was a victim of a society that created this idea of a young girl being pure and innocent and chaste. Untouched. Which personally I feel is a rather perverted way to look at women. So my Medusa needed to own her sexuality.

Lilith

Now on to Lilith. Not many people know about Lilith but she has origins in Jewish Mythology as the first wife of Adam. It's said she was made from the same clay as Adam was, which we would assume made her his equal. However both God and Adam wanted Lilith to submit to the will of man. Lilith refused to bow down to man as a lesser and wanted to continue to be his equal so instead she chose to leave. At some point in her story she became the mother of demons and a demon herself- quite literally being demonised for standing up against ideas of being lesser. Its even then more interesting that she became a demon who targeted children and pregnant women- almost as if these were things she rejected. I theorise that they were probably chosen for her since they represented things she wouldn't have with Adam once she left the garden.

So how does it link to my MA....

The main link between my projects is that they focus on how society presents women and the expectations of them in relation to how we act and how look. Society controls women through narratives like these to oppress women and make them conform to standards placed on them by men. I wrote two of my own poems to fit with the book I used, something I also want to continue within my work this year.