Page 120 - Middle Georgia State University - Knighted 2019

Historically, when a woman married, she became the property of her husband, degrading
her from a human being to an object. Women did not really exist outside of marriage in the eyes
of men and society, either: “In short, men have defined women in terms of themselves and
assigned them a role subordinate to their own. The very word woman, in fact, emphasized this
passive, subordinate position. It derives from the Anglo-Saxon wifeman, literally ‘wife-man,’ and
the implication seems to be that there is no such thing as a woman separate from wifehood”
(Bullough et al. 1). “In fact, in ancient Greece and Rome, adult women were never even
considered legal adults—they were the property of their father and then their husband (Vivante
59). Even the few women that did live a somewhat accepted life outside of marriage and
motherhood—those that sold themselves—were sneered at and viewed as less than women who
lived as submissive wives. As property of her husband, a woman “was degraded and reduced to
servitude,” and the female “became the slave of his lusts and a mere instrument for the
production of children” (Bullough et al. 6). Women were viewed not as people but as sexual
beings that existed to please men; however, while women’s bodies have been hypersexualized
for centuries, when they are taken out of the context of man’s pleasure, men become fearful of
female anatomy.

In Greek myth, Medusa was originally a beautiful young maiden. She served as a
priestess in the temple of Athena and had sworn an oath of celibacy to the goddess (“Medusa-
Greek Gods and Goddesses” 2017). In taking this oath, Medusa rejected all of the previously
discussed prescribed roles for women by completely abstaining from sex and thus bearing
children and marriage. This choice was unacceptable in Greek society, and Medusa was later
raped by Poseidon in Athena’s temple. This was the ultimate betrayal to Athena as Poseidon was
her rival. Rather than punishing the perpetrator, Athena punished Medusa, the victim, turning her

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