Goddesses as a symbol of Feminism

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What are some Goddesses you think make a perfect symbol for feminism and why? Please feel free to list your examples here.

Inanna/Ishtar



Inanna is the top choice in my mind because not only was she one of the oldest female deities in the world but she was regarded as a Goddess of both Love AND War. In the myths I read about her she was capable of compassion aswell as fury, and she conquered much of Ancient Mesopotamia to become the popular Deity of Choice. I think one of my favorite tales about her was the one where a mortal man made the stupid mistake of raping her as she slept under a tree, and when she awoke she rightfully took her justice on this man who ran away in fear and not only literally ripped him in half, but told him that his memory would be forever known as that of a rapist and a coward. So in my honest opinion she was truly a symbol of the MeToo# movement for holding rapists and abusers accountable. How can women not respect her for that?

https://www.worldhistory.org/article/21 ... kale-tuda/

Two more I think of are Artemis/Diana and Hestia/Vesta



Artemis was not only the Goddess of Hunting who also protected nature and wildlife and believed in fair hunting, but she was also regardesld as the protector of young unmarried women and her sacred temple was regarded as a sanctuary for young girls. Cleopatra had a young sister Arsinoe who was hidden at Diana's temple for her own safety, but sadly that didnt stop Cleopatra's assassins from tracking her down and murdering her anyways... it did cause a big scandal for Rome though for violating what was meant to be a safe haven for young women.


Hestia is another interesting choice in my opinion. The Domestic Goddess of the Hearth who protects the home and family. In an Ancient Society that forced women to marry in arranged marriages, Hestia actually rejected marriage to the gods Poseidon and Apollo because she wanted to remain an unmarried virgin and keep the peace between the gods. Her choosing not to marry in my opinion was her way of holding onto her own sense if power. Marriage doesn't have to be for everyone, and frankly many of the married gods like Zeus and Hera were dysfunctional as hell. It kind of reminds me of how Queen Elizabeth I of England chose to never marry so that she could hold onto power as a Queen (a very smart move on her part).

Seem like good picks to me.

Dont know as much about the goddesses in question as you.

I know a tiny bit about Athena. She was the goddess of wisdom, "the hunt", and war (usually depicted as being as well armed as Xena the warrior princess). And one of the main cities, a city renowned for education and intellect, Athens, was named after her.

So. She might be my pick as feminist role model.

And I like how she was born. She sprang forth as a fully grown adult...right out of her dad, Zeus's head on day.

Even Christ had to go through infancy and childhood...after that virgin birth!

I'll throw Persephone on this list. Goddess of Spring. Queen of the underworld.

Granted, not exactly the most ideal of stories but Greek mythology never is.

The whole eating the pomegranate fruit and being trapped there reminds me of tales of the fae.

Athena and Persephone make interesting choices.

Athena was indeed a very strong and wise Goddess. Although the only problem I have with her was in regards to the mythology of how she punished her priestess Medusa for being raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple. It was considered a great offense to the Virgin Goddess but it was clearly not Medusa's fault.

But in Ancient Greece even the Gods and Goddesses had their flaws. There was another tale of a priestess raped in Athena's temple when the Trojan War happened and as the city of Troy was being sacked Ajax dragged the prophetess Cassandra away from Athena's statue and brutally assaulted her in the Goddess' own Temple. Athena had actually aided the Greek Soldiers right up until Ajax did this and was so disgusted at the treatment of one of her own priestesses that she ordered Ajax to be killed, and when the Greeks refused she sent violent storms to destroy many of the Greek Ships returning home from the war.

Why she showed more compassion for Cassandra than she did Medusa I will never understand, unless there's something missing to the Medusa myth?

As for Persephone, I can see a kind of feminism in her story too. If one reads in between the lines I don't believe she was quite the innocent spring flower that her myth made her out to be. I'm sure she did love her mother Demeter very much, but like any young girl she probably grew tired of her sheltered life and desired more. I think she was truly horrified when Hades decided to kidnap her, and while I don't believe she had stockholm syndrome what I think happened to her was when she was presented with the opportunity to be his bride in the Underworld she thought to herself "Hey? I'll get to be an actual QUEEEN! Maybe that's not so bad after all?". I think there's even the possibility that she chose to eat the pomegranite growing in the Underworld herself because she wanted to be with Hades and not spend eternity as a Maiden Goddess like Hestia, Artemis, or Athena.

So when one consider's Persephone's story in that light, it's like she was a girl who took a bad situation and made it work in her favor. She gained her own power by accepting to be the Underworld Queen and would never give that position up, much like a similiar Underworld Goddess named Ereshkigal in Ancient Medopotamia who came to enjoy the power being an Underworld Queen gave her, and even when her sister Inanna tried to take the throne from her Ereshkigal still refused to give it up and fought back.

Amyways another Greek Goddess I can think of as pro-feminist is none other than Nyx the Goddess of the Night Sky.

Why you ask? Because according to myth she was literally the only deity feared by Zeus the King of the Gods. The fact that this Patriarchal King of Mount Olympus was so afraid to anger the Night Goddess speaks volumes to how truly powerful she must have been, yet nobody truly knows why he feared her?

She must have really been something.

I think another good example would be Benzaiten the only Goddess of the Shichifukujin (7 Gods of Luck). She is actually a Goddess of more than just beauty and the arts, she is also a goddess of rivers and water, a goddess of wisdom and knowledge, a war goddess holding many weapons, and the defender of Japanese Culture and Buddhist Law. She's also associated with snakes and dragons and there's an interesting story of how she saved a terrified village from a ferocious dragon by charming the beast with her lute and made it into her companion.

https://kevinpage.co.uk/news-and-blog/i ... se-legend/

I feel like another potential example could be Hera aka Juno the Queen of the Gods herself.

Contrary to what some people like to believe about her she was much more than just some petty vindictive wife who took her anger out on the unfortunate women who caught her husband's wondering eye. She was also regarded as the protector of wives, mothers, and the family. Plus she was never a pushover to her husband Zeus, she weilded just as much power as he did and wasn't afraid to show it off as he equal. Like in the Trojan War when Zeus aided the Trojans and Hera aided the Greek Soldiers and ultimately won against her husband's forces. She also at one point tried to overthrow Zeus in a a coup and he had punished her but forgave her when he made her promise never to do it again.

Many people think Hera should have simply left Zeus but that would have been unthinkable to the Ancient Greeks who did not believe in divorce. Plus she was literally the Goddess of "Marriage" which means she couldnt go against what she was about.

She represented an inconvient truth about marriage in the ancient world how many married couples were actually deey unhappy with the wives carrying most of the burden. Yet as long as mortal women didn't become the mistresses of HER husband she was an important part in aiding them in their own marriages and family struggles.

Plus what I like most about Hera is that even though she was trapped in a bad marriage to Zeus she certainly never took any crap from him. She's like a "Catholic" feminist.

I think another good contendor would be Venus aka Aphrodite the Goddess of Love.



She seems to me like a symbol for women's sexual liberation. As a Goddess being regarded as the most beautiful woman in the world she was forced to marry an unattractive God whom she really did not love, but she did not let that stop her from being with the men she wanted to be with like Ares and Adonis. She also was a Goddess of true expression which is why so many artists love her.

She could be regarded as a symbol of female expression AND anti-slut shaming. Unlike Hera the Goddess of Marriage, Aphrodite the Goddeas of Love refuses to stay bound to a husband she despises.

Time to plug my book about Asherah

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPMDFF38

Yeah I'm aware of Asherah the original Wife of God. She's an interesting choice and to me she's like that undying spark of the divine feminine that no matter how much the patriarchy tries to stamp her out, she refuses to go out and lingers on.

The anti-religion satire aside she is an interesting goddess to think about. They tried so hard to erase her whole identity but she resurfaced in archeological discovery recently, almost like the women who refuse to stay silent. That actually sounds very feminist when you think about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LUZ4dpV3YI

Here is an actual, real-live goddess



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTBlQJBUhd8

She should probably trump your make-believe goddesses.

Wow, that was super cool! Thank you for sharing.

Although I need to disagree with you about the Goddesses I listed being "make-believe". These deities were very real to the people who worshipped them for centuries. The only difference between these Goddesses and tbe one you showed is that their vessels were inside the temples and shrines dedicated to them with detailed idols to give an idea of how people thought they looked. The one you showed makes a vessel out of a living girl rather than a temple statue. It's really the same concept just done in a different way.

But still I really enjoyed the video. Thank you.

I might as well include Lilith, because even though I kinda disagree with using her as a feminist icon the fact is she is being embraced as a symbol for feminism in neopagan and satanist circles.



Despite her many flaws as a demonic being who was blamed by ancient Jewish people for killing newborn babies, attacking pregnant and birthing mothers, and seducing vulnerable men as they slept.

The one positive thing I can say about her was that she was truly independent. She was a woman bound neither to Adam, to Yahweh, or to the Devil. She made her choice and existed how she wanted to exist, even if that made her pretty evil and the enemy of mankind who was said by some to be the true identity of the snake that tricked Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit that damned them and their offspring down to earth.

I don't like the way so many of her worshippers in modern times have whitewashed what she was, but I gotta hand it to Lilith I can understand the inspiration she gives to women. She reminds me of that saying "Good girls go to Heaven while bad girls go everywhere else".