The Naked Athena and the power of the Vulva
by Rossella Forle’
Over the past few days, the city of Portland Oregon has been drowning in protest.
The city was on its 50th night of Black Lives Matter protest. It was early in the morning, and the long hours were taking a more violent turn when Portland Police decided they were going to deploy tear gas to break up the crowd.
Then a woman did something completely unexpected. She walked back and forth, giving a full view of her beauty. After doing a few yoga poses (although some reported it was ballet, which it was not), she sat down in the middle of the intersection in downtown Portland, opened her legs and exposed her vulva to the police.
She posed herself in front of the troops in a display of extreme vulnerability and courage. She seems to say “I dare you”.
She's since been dubbed "Naked Athena" in honor of the Ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, handicraft, and most importantly, warfare.
La Fontaine Plate. Photo credit: Wikipedia
The power of the Vulva
Anasyrma — exposing the female genitals — is not considered sexual, but rather is a type of exhibitionism that women have used for centuries to combat violence.
The act of lifting up one’s skirt to display the genitals can be an apotropaic device. (A type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences). It can, in circumstances of war, evoke the fear of the enemy. It can also be an act which evokes surprise and subsequent laughter and a letting go of sadness.
In Minor Asia (now modern Turkey), Greek Mythology tells the story of the Lycian women who exposed themselves to Bellarophon during battle. Similar tales have been told throughout time: the Persians who retreated from the Medes, only to have a comeback when the women exposed themselves to the enemy, or Cu’ Chullain of Ireland, who’s uncle sent 150 women who exposed themselves to him in opposition. As they approached him in bold nakedness, he lowered his eyes, thus being overcome by their power. (source)
Demeter
What is significant about anasyrma is that it reflects the numinous quality of the female genitals and the genital region through which birth ensues. In several cultures, there is a myth of anasyrma used for emotional healing. The most well-known myth of that type is probably that of Baubo and Iambe.
Baubo & Iambe Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baubo
In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (eighth–sixth centuries BCE), the goddess of grain, Demeter, is grieving for her daughter Persephone, who has been carried off by the underworld god, Hades.
The old woman, Iambe, is vocally erotic or “obscene,” telling jokes to make the grieving Demeter laugh. She has been compared by many scholars to the physically “obscene” Baubo, who makes the goddess laugh by lifting up her skirt.
Even in recent times, Anasyrma is used to combat police and violence. In Kenya, Guturamira ngani, the curse of nakedness, is “a customary form of women’s protest.” Since the 1990s and early 2000s, Kenyan women have been invoking Guturamira ngani as a way to restore peace and make a stand against male violence. In religion and art, the vulva is perceived as a symbol of power and magic in many ancient cultures.
The power of the vulva evokes an array of emotions when displayed in public: surprise and awe, jealousy, admiration, shame, fear, even rage. Men retreat and then afterwards denounce the act as unclean, dirty, or disgusting (example). They cry that the woman is mentally ill, a whore, a bitch, or a cunt. But, we are sane and we have been doing this for centuries, and it has worked. It still works.