i can appreciate feminist retellings of mythology for sure, but at the same time i am very suspicious of revisionist retellings that erase the tragic or violent aspects of the story in the name of giving the women in their stories “agency” - i think that there is a meaningful distinction between violence against women as spectacle and violence against women as a core part of the story that should be addressed, even if the story is re-contextualized. i also understand the impulse to pursue narratives that don’t include violence against women at all because our culture is oversaturated with it and that desensitizes us and makes it spectacle, and frankly i AM sick of seeing that shit in the media constantly (personally i don’t trust men to write narratives of female trauma lol and i’m tired of seeing “realism” or “empowerment” used as an excuse to make porn out of abuse)
however. i don’t like the implication that victims of violence (regardless of gender) lose their agency once they are subjected to that experience. i think that overlooks the way that stories are used to illuminate parts of our culture that are harmful, that we don’t like to think about, that aren’t addressed how they should be, and their power as a means of expression and healing for people who need a place for their experience of violence.
i’m not saying there’s not a place for retellings where persephone is a badass with a healthy relationship with her sugar daddy husband hades and medusa has been blessed with the power to protect herself from men rather than cursed and sought out to destroy by men as a monster for the rest of her life (and actually athena is a feminist icon supporting other women). i’m just saying that these are the retellings i see hyped up constantly as being inherently better than stories where the woman subjected to violence isn’t your modern cardboard cut-out Strong Female Character or in which there is no experience of violence at all. i don’t think that’s a responsible way to frame the conversation around injustice experienced by women in mythology and modern literature. worse, i see people claim that these are the true intent of the original myths. i…. don’t even know what to say to that except don’t trust shit you see on the internet making historical claims without checking their damn sources. that’s all
anyway i do know of some very good myth adaptations that don’t fall into this trap so again, i’m not saying retellings can’t be done well or can’t have a feminist framework
Hey if your feminist retelling of hades and persephone villainizes Demeter just to make hades the adorkable himbo maybe you missed the point and should look at how you reconstruct narratives, and why you still equate romantic fulfilment as the ultimate goal of female driven stories at the expense of female relationships.
women of color in period dramas + historical fantasy
mr. malcolm’s list (2019) /
the handmaiden (2016) / still star-crossed (2017) /
black sails (2014-2017) /
paheli (2005) / belle (2013) / picnic at hanging rock (2018) / the untamed (2019) /
if beale street could talk (2018)
One of the most warmly human things I’ve ever seen was an old parchment from the Irish middle ages, the scribe’s cat had walked across the page and left inky pawprints on the page.
FOUND IT!!!
Oh, here’s another:
It would appear that Asian scribes were also plagued by feline predations:
frankenstein is about self loathing and recognition through the Other. it’s about the original sin. it’s about what we owe to our creations and each other. it’s about internalized homophobia and the monstrosity of a man desiring another man. it’s about Romance. it’s about romance. it’s about playing god. it’s about being transgender. it’s about the absent fathergod. it’s about society. it’s about unethical medical experiments. it’s about gay college dropouts. it’s about a big nasty monster dude who is, and i cannot stress this enough, spooky
i’m sitting on my bed reading. it’s almost midnight. it’s summer. my window is open and the cool wind is blowing. it’s cloudy but i can see the moon shining through the clouds. the crickets are very loud but very soothing. my room smells dusty and warm and no one else exists. the feeling never goes away. everything is quiet and i’m at peace.
