In
many ways, Lysistrata is a challenge
to conventional, patriarchal society – even now, I think, which explains why it
might be apart of the banned books list. Aside from the obvious outrage that
would have surrounded female autonomy, Lysistrata herself is a figure of a
female authority. By the end, she is a heroine. It is by her own genius that
she is able to convince and organize a band of women to rebel against sex,
particularly the pleasures of the male groin. And while the women complain and
begrudge this idea initially, they play into it quite nicely, employing tactics
such as teasing, sexy provocation and false assurance, resulting in the ache
for sexual fulfillment of the males that Lysistrata seems to believe will
resolve the war between Sparta and Athens. The joke becomes the belief that
males will submit under any circumstance for the release of sex. The joke
becomes a reality when the men walk around with full-on erections, redirecting
every conversation back to sex, pleading for the women to relieve their “pain”
and “suffering.”
The
thing to note is that Aristophanes is not depriving the women of autonomy in
sex, but rather giving it to them. In fact, he gives them so much control that
they are able to drive the men “mad” with their ability to hold out. He is
giving them a sort of power that they otherwise lacked: matching physical
strength (men) with mental (and even physical) willpower (women). Throughout
the text, we constantly see men threaten physical violence as a form a control
(pg. 68, 73, 74, 80 to name a few). It is only AFTER the women are threatened
that they return the threat – after all, fight fire with fire, right? Wrong!
When the women attempt to exhibit autonomy (success is irrelevant here), they
are met with insults calling them “shameless beasts” (68). Females, therefore,
are trapped in a double bind. What is acceptable behavior for man is not a (socially)
acceptable course of action for woman. Even as women try to exercise their human
RIGHT to protect themselves, sexism prevails.
One
of the most illustrative and powerful scenes in this text occurs in Scene 2
(pg. 67-69). A representative from each side, an old and an old woman, bicker
and threaten one another. The argument escalates from spoken threat to violent
action when the old female asserts, “I’m a free woman” (68). It is this very
proclamation that is met with actual violence, not the disturbing “I will
devour your lungs and cut out all your guts” (68). Female autonomy angers him
more than female aggression. It is this sentence that symbolizes feminine
authority and it is this same sentence that threatens masculinity (namely,
pride). If that isn’t telling of the male ego, I don’t know what is!
Today,
women have significant sexual agency, at least, more than they once had. They
also have more general rights, such as the right to vote and the right to
contraception. There are even laws set in place to protect the wife from
spousal abuse/rape (marriage rape laws). Changes, particularly in the law, are
a result of the acknowledgment that woman are human beings just like their male
counterparts. However, just because the law has transgressed over the past few
decades does not mean that attitudes towards women have. Specifically, religion
is a widely valued institution across the world, but its outdated perception of
women as less than men is still very detrimental to the human mind. Outside of
America, the less-industrialized nations deal with an even higher level of
misogyny, as most of the inhabitants tend to lack access to basic education
that might otherwise thwart these beliefs. So while I believe that attitudes
towards women have evolved to some extent, there is still much work to be done
in the realm of equalizing the sexes.
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