2 October 2011. saying that they "concisely and informatively sum up the strike"). 2 October 2011. First performed in 411 BC (probably) at the Lenaea, Lysistrata is one of Aristophanes’ best-known comedies, primarily because of its modern adaptations as a feminist play. Iran Starts Up Advanced Centrifuges In Nuclear Deal Breach, Pfizer Seeks Covid Vaccine Authorization For 12-15 Year Olds In US, Adventures In Transformative Venture Capitalism, The Power Of Knowledge — And The Leaders Who Spread It, The Invisible Hand Up: Windfall Profits Await Companies Who Employ The ‘Unemployable’. . I’m curious to see how women’s equality issues will evolve over the next nine years. Even older women, older men were sodomized. In fact, the plot of Lysistrata could be an actual headline from today’s news: The women of Greece are fed up with the Peloponnesian War, which has been raging for 20 years. Brodzinsky, Sibylla. As Lysistrata waits for the women of Sparta, Thebes, and other areas to meet her she curses the weakness of women. More than 2,500 years ago, the Greek playwright Aristophanes wrote a play called ‘Lysistrata’ in which the women of Athens vowed to withhold sexual relations from their husbands and lovers as a form of protest against The Peloponnesian War. In April 2008, women in Kenya called for a week-longs sex strike to force the country’s male politicians to break another political deadlock. In addition, it is estimated that 60-90% of the country’s women—of all ages—were raped in the course of the war (Wiltz). Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett. This role covers all the steps of production from the interpretation of the script to the final performance. It will remain there until 2026. Are women and their roles in society entangled with wartime rape? (That war ended that year). 2 October 2011. In the following video, Leymah Gbowee, who led the sex strike, describes it eloquently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZhmXaFg5ig. Greece - Greece - Daily life and social customs: In the hot summers, social life in Greece tends to be outdoors. But first, learn the difference between assertiveness and aggressiveness. In other words, these women are taking their womanhood, which may be seen as a disability in wartime, and enabling it. Allow me to preface this web event with a brief description of what is to come, and what my motives are for presenting it. In small towns and villages the tradition of the volta continues, when at sundown much of the population strolls up and down the main street or, on the islands, along the shore. . (Does suicide bombing operate in this way?) The Guardian, 12 September 2006. Lysistrata is today among the most recognized plays done by Aristophanes since the plot is easily understandable. Relating Lysistrata to current events certainly invites the whole "sex as power" theme, but that seems to simplistic. On one hand the women are portrayed as how they were thought to be, mischievous and deceitful. One could even argue that because war disables both nations and people, these women are disabling disability by disabling war. Your two other questions--"How does the idea of the body as home relate to the idea of women using their bodies to end war? I found your blog after a friend told me the story of Gbowee. Really! It was just like hell on Earth. More specificaly, the Lysistrata of 1969 initiated a second period of preoccupation with Aristophanes by Karolos Koun during which he went on to increasingly experiment with the conventions of the ancient … "If men refuse to hear our cries we will hold another demonstration that will be more powerful than a sex strike," Ameganvi added. Lysistrata was a satiric comedy with a happy ending – Togo has serious problems that likely cannot be solved by two weeks of sexual abstinence. If you'd like to explore this nexus further, you might track down some of her work about the ways in which, historically, women's suffrage was enhanced by militarization, by claims that those who contribute to war-making deserve the rights of citizenship. Women play a special role in war because of their sex. As a former facilitator for assertiveness training groups, I’m hopeful. If you have any thoughts on anything I say, I would love to hear them. Footnote 2 R. Weinrich commented in Gossip Central, ‘Self-assured and instinctively political, Gbowee is a modern day Lysistrata, as in the ancient Greek satirist Aristophanes’ play'. ... Lysistrata Modern Feminist Ancient Joke: Home. Martin, Michel. This fresh, fast-paced comedy, inspired by the Aristophanes play, follows Lysistrata, an Athenian housewife, who calls for the women of Greece to help end the Peloponnesian War. Another example of Lysistrata coming to life occurred in Pereira, Colombia, in 2006. I want to maintain the main themes and ideas of the play, however I have transformed it into an idea that the modern audience would be able to understand and relate to a period in their life. The Root, 9 December 2010. Finally, I want to leave you with some questions. Gnassingbe’s family has ruled Togo for decades – he was quickly installed as president by the military in early 2005 following the death of his father, Eyadema, who had ruled the nation since 1967. When people snap, it’s either they do the worst of they do the best. . Aristophanes. But when anti-war activism and feminism are combined, an entirely new form of protest is born: the sex strike. Los Angeles Times, 16 November 2008. The typical interpretation tends to be superficial, glossing over the details in favor of the sex.However, there are other aspects of the play that need to be examined in order to understand the meaning of Lysistrata during the time it was written, and what it means to translate the comedy into a modern day … 2 October 2011. Who knows? How does the idea of the body as home relate to the idea of women using their bodies to end war? Wiltz, Teresa. Representing the comedic nature of Lysistrata in a modern … Megan Tobias, Kean University Follow. But Panurge is as fantastic and fascinating a character now as he was 300 years ago, Lysistrata and her girls as freshly bodied as any girl kissed to-day. 1611: John Fletcher wrote his play the Tamer Tamed, which work for either your classroom or teaching... This single act of seditious interference with the prerogatives of the time period browser, you will be! 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