Athena blessed her with the ability to protect herself and men beheaded her for it.
That’s actually a really intetesting intpretation of it I hadn’t thought of. Most people seem to think Athena turned Medusa into a gorgon as punishment for defiling her temple, but thinking that she did so to protect her from being abused again is interesting and I like it!
Athena’s hands were tied. Yes, she was a powerful Goddess, but she was very much a woman in a “boys club”, and the true offending party (don’t think for a moment that Athena blamed Medusa for being raped in the temple, Athena knows better) held all the cards. There was nothing that Athena could do to punish the true criminal, and she was expected to punish Medusa by everyone else. What’s a Goddess to do when she cannot punish those who need to be punished and is expected to punish not only the truly innocent party, but her most beloved follower? Use that incredible brain power she had to protect Medusa at all costs, and of course the men would see it as punishment, to be have her beauty stripped from her and sent to live in the shadows. Medusa should have been KILLED for supposedly defiling the temple, whether she truly did or not, but she was given the gift of life, and the ability to protect herself and her daughters (who she bore thanks to Poseidon). This is why Medusa’s image was used to signify woman’s shelters and safe houses.
Medusa means “guardian; protectress”, and she was.
pretty fucked up that brokeback mountain is a horrifically sad movie and yet everyone acted like it was peak comedy
i remember when brokeback mountain was released (before i realized i was gay) and i remember everyone making “i wish i knew how to quit you” jokes and looking back it’s absolutely depressing how people reacted to brokeback mountain
the movie was a depressing look into being closeted and in love and being outed and gay ppl being violently murdered and somehow all straight people took away from it was “it’s so funny because…. they’re Gay…. it’s a Gay Movie”
I remember when Brokeback Mountain came out. It was the joke of the year. People thought the ‘gay cowboy movie’ was the funniest thing they’d ever heard of. SNL had a field day. You couldn’t get away from the ‘I wish I could quit you’ jokes. It wasn’t until years later when I actually saw it that I was like, ‘Holy shit, this is a deadly-serious fucking tragedy. What the fuck, people. What the fuck.’
straights love to make fun of gay men’s pain. nothing new.
someday, in the distant future, humans will once again be capable of hearing the phrase “what is love” without also feeling the primal urge to respond with “baby don’t hurt me”
So at that point, people will say “baby don’t hurt me”…no more?
I tried to scroll past I really did
beautiful set up, perfect follow-through. great teamwork everyone
misterjazzmaster 