*Trigger warning* The Penelopiad, by Marget Atwood, presents a constant battle of hardship and heartbreak of life for women in ancient Greece. These difficulties stem from both psychological and social pressures that women face in Atwood’s story The Penelopiad. Atwood’s retelling of the Odyssey allows Penelopiad, the wife of Odysseus, the opportunity to share her story and struggles of a young woman married for thousands of years. Women in Atwood's story, The Penelopiad, are raped, which was unfortunately common during the time era. In fact, in greek mythology, rape not only occured, but was almost justified. I believe this justification and commonality of occurrence largely factors into the physiological pressures of women in the Greek world during that time era. The emotional response to rape often lasts a long time and includes, but is not limited to, depression, flashback, and PTSD. Many survivors of sexual assault tend to struggle with feelings of shame, guilt and embarrassment and often have a decreased level of trust in others that are outside of their typical support system. Symptoms of trauma, anxiety, and depression after rape can last for months or even years. Not only can sexual violence have an effect on ones physiological state, but it can heave an effect on their emotional and physical behavior and well-being as well. Although we have a long way to go in how we treat rape culture today, have come a long way from the way that it was treated during the time period of Greek Mythology. Really, during that time period, rape was so common that it was not a second thought when it happened, which means that victims did not receive proper help after the occurrence of these instances. I believe that this greatly contributed to lasting psychological effects for the characters throughout Atwood’s story, contributing to the social pressures that women faced to act as if they were fine after these instances occurred. Luckily in todays society there is much more of a prominence of resources for rape victims. A lot of these resources are oftentimes found on college campuses, such as therapy and rape kits, or may be found through psychotherapy, counseling, or even through calling the national Sexual Assault Hotline, all of which can help in ones healing process. Though rape has been termed as more of a deviant act in our society nowadays, there unfortunately is still a stigma surrounding rape. In fact, sadly, 63% of sexual assault incidents are not reported to police. I can only imagine how high this percentage must have been during the times in which The Penelopiad took place, leading to psychological and social pressures for many women. Resources for sexual assault survivors: National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 https://ct.counseling.org/2016/08/counseling-survivors-sexual-assault/# https://www.sacenter.org/heal/types-of-therapy-and-treatment.aspx References: https://www.rainn.org/effects-sexual-violence https://feminisminindia.com/2017/10/06/origins-rape-culture-mythology/ https://psmag.com/social-justice/lifelong-consequences-rape-96056 https://ct.counseling.org/2016/08/counseling-survivors-sexual-assault/# https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7239557/
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Women empowerment - a movement that has been on the rise, especially with the emergence of the #metoo movement and the push for equal pay. Madeline Miller’s story of Circe focuses on this important idea of women empowerment and how women cope in a society that views women as inferior to men. Circe, the main character in this greek mythology is a nymph, and all nymphs are seen as the bottom of the totem pole. In ancient Greece, women are at the bottom of the power hierarchy, which greatly affects their ability to gain any kind of power. Much like women are at the bottom of the totem poll when it comes to pay and the gender pay gap that exists in our society. Women make 82 cents for every dollar that men make. As a woman, she is susceptible to both violence and abuse from not only men but also from immortal gods. Circe also deals with the idea that women are not meant to hold power, as they are “inferior to men”. When women have power, they are distrusted and those who possess power attempt to constrain them. This can be seen directly when Circe and Pasiphaë’s abilities are discovered, Zeus and Helios become afraid of their powers, and as a result, exile Circe to an island where she can do no more harm. The irony here is that Perses and Aeëtes also possess magic, but there are no significant attempts to lessen their power simply because they are males. Though Circe is just a story, each and every day women face the struggles of men believing that they’re superior to women. Some men, like Brock Turner set the precedence for our society and show that their actions rarely lead to actual punishment, continuing the idea of empowerment over women. More reprimands for their actions must occur, as men like Brock Turner are hardly punished for their ungodly actions. Men like Brock believe that they are entitled to a woman and her body. This will never change until there is a significant change in our society. I believe that this change is on the rise because of the #metoo movement and because feminism is becoming a more and more common belief, however, we still have a long way to go. Truly, I think men feel entitled because they are scared. They're scared of women taking their spots, taking their jobs, and taking their livelihood. Men fear women with power, just like Zeus and Helios fear Circe. Circe finds that these men have a distrust in women, leading her to feel isolated physically and emotionally, a feeling many women are all too familiar with. So how do we women cope with these men who think that they’re better than us? We prove them wrong. We receive degrees, we become doctors, we become strong leaders. We prove to these men that we are more than capable of holding positions that they hold, that our bodies are OUR bodies, and they are not entitled to us or anything else for that matter. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/circe/themes https://www.aauw.org/app/uploads/2021/09/AAUW_SimpleTruth_2021_-fall_update.pdf https://www.nbcnews.com/know-your-value/feature/it-s-2021-women-still-make-82-cents-every-dollar-ncna1261755 https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/02/us/brock-turner-release-jail/index.html |
AuthorHi! My name is Alyssa and I am a fourth year Psychology major! When I'm not busy with work and school I enjoy cooking new recipes, and binging Schitt's Creek on Netflix. Archives |