| |
|
quote:Originally posted by He said he had a horrible Haus:
You do realise they didn't exist? That they were creations of masculine anxiety? And as such perfectly relevant to the discussion, but in a very different way?
I think they did exist, in one form or another. Whether the Bacchae's cannibalistic rituals were over-puffed in the re-telling is a different matter. Maenads? I also believe Amazon mythos has some basis in historical fact, again, whether those facts have been distorted, Robin Hood/King Arthur stylee through history doesn't remove that grain of truth. Perhaps a lone group of independent female thieves, whose rep built up. These myths may illustrate male paranoia, but 'just because they're after you...'.
A few other pertinent examples of semi-mythologised 'warrior-women'; Boudicca, Joan of Arc, the numerous female (often trans-gender) pirates (rumours that Black Beard was a woman etc), the 'Bandit Queen' . History and mythology are peppered with examples of violent or murderous women (again, illustrating psychological anxieties, but...) Snow White's stepmother, Hansel and Gretel. Women aren't painted by the Western group mind entirely as the sugar and spice surface would suggest.
Now for personal stuff corner: a friend of mine is the father of his girlfriend's child. She told him she was on the pill, became pregnant, announced she was a lesbian, demanded he live with her to raise the child, and now hits him regularly in a tragically cliched example of kitchen sink domestic-tension-abuse. He doesn't hit back, but tries to restrain her. He doesn't leave because he loves his child, and doesn't want to have to go through the courts for access. I suppose he must partly still love her too.
True story; I know some of us like to stick to the theoretical, but what do you make of it? What insights might one gain from such a tale? |
|
|
