Recently, a friend forwarded an article about the ‘pornification’ of Goddess culture with a note expressing her frustration. Written by Max Dashu, a spiritual feminist and founder of the Suppressed Histories Guide — an iconic archeological and art archive about the role of women and Goddesses from prehistoric times and across international borders – the essay was terse and to the point.
Goddess imagery has been hijacked. Sacred sexuality with its reverence for the feminine and messages of female strength is no longer free from our culture’s obsessions with youth, age, beauty and excessive thinness. The realm of the Goddess that once held space for all women — even those with no interest in the topic — had been supplanted by “glamour girls of the same body size and (often impossible) proportions. Virtually none represent old or middle-aged women, few are muscular, none are fat or even husky,” Dashu lamented.
Not just Goddesses are being redrawn to these scales, she noted. Crones, witches, shamanesses and medicine women have become contaminated, as evidenced in her photo galleries. Dashu’s conclusion regarding the ‘toxic femininity scripts’ creeping into depictions of the female faces of divinity: “This is not empowerment; it is monoculture, limiting, plastic, soul-less, and lacking in the relaxed boldness of real power.”
Goddess imagery has been hijacked. Sacred sexuality with its reverence for the feminine and messages of female strength is no longer free from our culture’s obsessions with youth, age, beauty and excessive thinness. The realm of the Goddess that once held space for all women — even those with no interest in the topic — had been supplanted by “glamour girls of the same body size and (often impossible) proportions. Virtually none represent old or middle-aged women, few are muscular, none are fat or even husky,” Dashu lamented.
Not just Goddesses are being redrawn to these scales, she noted. Crones, witches, shamanesses and medicine women have become contaminated, as evidenced in her photo galleries. Dashu’s conclusion regarding the ‘toxic femininity scripts’ creeping into depictions of the female faces of divinity: “This is not empowerment; it is monoculture, limiting, plastic, soul-less, and lacking in the relaxed boldness of real power.”
I've always loved my Goddess Oracle deck for images of Goddess-women that adhere to their more traditional aspects. True, some of them hold to the standards of beautiful and maybe even nude - but of course, some of them were specifically KNOWN for their beauty and their nakedness. My favourite though is Sheila Na Gig, an ancient goddess who bears her toothless smile, sagging breasts and crone's yoni to the world.
Nothing wrong with naked. It's all in the female sovereignty. I'm glad Modern Love Muse immediately understood that this has nothing to do with attacks on sexual expression (I like her phrase "soulful wantonness"). There are so, so many diverse ways of being in a woman's body, and mass-media dominance is so pervasive that its constrictiveness is not readily visible to many women who are unconsciously measuring themselves against its plastic archetypes. And so they commandeer our sacred symbolism, stories, our very historical memory. It is our sovereignty, our right to define, and to step out and away from not the media deluge of images that colonize our psyches and our bodies.
For the power of the real thing, take a look at the ancient images here: [https://www.suppressedhistories.net/purchase/posters.html] with posters showing that reverence for the female -- Sacra Vulva! Female Icons! Vulva Stones! has been global, and lies at the oldest roots of religion.
Oh, by the way: it is the Suppressed Histories *Archives*. Thanks for the article!
Dear BexvanKoot - I'm so glad this article sang to you! I was trying to give space for all womenkind along all ranges of appearance, including the toothless.
Lmao @ toothless!
I understand the need for the empowerment of women, and why there should be concern about traditional images of the divine feminine should be cared for, but culture and history is not a stagnant thing - it evolves and take on new curves. Look at this as a new wrinkle upon her face.
And thanks for the article!