Lysistrata by Gwennyth Staudt

Lysistrata Through the Modern Lens

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-08 15:34:28 UTC

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-08 15:39:55 UTC

This depiction places Lysitstra on the popular and infamous World War II poster of Rosie the Riveter. In WWII, the United States placed an emphasis on getting all members of society to join the war effort and support the country. By creating the character of Rosie the Riveter, the United States included women into the war effort. This was such a pivotal moment in American history because it was one of the first times in the history of the United States where women were the main population in the work force. They also were allowed to work in fields that have been historically male. This represents a time when women were more involved in society than ever before. Painting Lysistrata as Rosie the Riveter explains that women can create change and impact society, especially in time of war. However, this may not be the best reinterpretation of Lysistrata, as in WWII the women who joined the war effort were actively supporting the men who were away at war and supplying them with what they needed. In Lysistrata, the women were working to end the war through withholding something from their men. Using Lysistrata in historical context of war may be more well suited for the Vietnam War, as people were actively protesting the United States involvement in it.

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-08 15:40:17 UTC

In simple terms, Lysistrata is about fighting a war by withholding sex, however after first glance at this poster you would think the opposite. This representation almost has the same feel as a protest poster from the Vietnam War. Using the term “Make love not war” shows the idea that loving each other and having more love in the world would be enough to end a war. In theory this is a good idea as with more love in the world people would be more welcoming and kind to others, but for an interpretation of Lysistrata this may not be the most accurate. In this story, they are withholding love and sex in order to end the war, not having more. Another way of looking at this in the lens of Lysistrata could be to claim that they would rather not have to withhold sex, showing they would rather make love than be at war. Another aspect of this poster I found interesting was the words/themes that are written in the background. They include, community effort, radical inclusion, and equal liberty to name a few. All of these themes show how the women in the story took a stand against their husbands and lovers in order to end the war for the greater good. This effort showed that women are able to take a greater position in society, therefore showing they are worthy of equal rights and liberties in their given societies.

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-08 15:42:44 UTC

Unlike the other reinterpretations of Lysistrata, this one doesn't directly correlate to any certain era of time. It is also much more simplistic, being drawn much more like a political cartoon, opposed to the other visuals. Though it is very simple, it has small details that connect ancient aspects of the story with aspect of modern life and warfare. The ancient aspects that can be seen are within the architecture that is Lysistrata's body and the pillar that makes up the lower half of the missile. The only physical modern aspect is the missile itself, but the missile can represent multiple time periods throughout modern history. Dating back the farthest, this can be seen as the nuclear crisis during and after WWII. However, I feel that this representation focuses much more on how modern warfare and the lack of peace in the world destroys artifacts and architecture that dates back to ancient civilizations. These artifacts are the only thing that connects our civilization to those of the past, and without them, we will know very little about those who walked before us. This is why we see Lysistrata protecting the building from the man carrying the missile. She is trying to protect what lies inside and is promoting peace and encouraging others to save artifacts for posterity. Similarly to how she promoted peace through denying entry to herself.

Movie: Chi-Raq

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-08 15:44:22 UTC

The movie Chi-Raq takes the story of Lysistrata and puts into context of something that is very prevalent in our society today. By surrounding the story around gang violence and, more loosely, senseless violence, Spike Lee was able to connect an ancient story to today's society. Throughout the film, music, particularly rap music, was used to tell a story of how gang violence has the ability to tear communities and families apart. The movie also kept much of the classical aspects of the story alive. The classical portion that stuck out to me was Lysistrata's speech to the women about the rules of their strike around the vessel of wine. I feel that this struck out to me so much because it showed that as humans we have not changed as much as one may think through the ages. They took the ancient speech and kept the premise the same and changed certain words to give it a more modern twist. Just like in the original play, the men think that the women will not be able to go through with their strike or that they can go find some other women to fulfil their “needs.” However, they are able to prevail and attract many women to join the movement that ultimately results in success at ending the gang war.

Musical: Lysistrata Jones

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-08 15:45:02 UTC

This interpretation places the story of Lysistrata in a much more lighthearted and comical scene compared to Chi-Raq. In this rendition of Lysistrata, the cheer team goes on a sex strike from the basketball team in order to encourage them to win more games. Even though this interpretation is much more lighthearted, it still covers the theme of women banding together for a common cause. This interpretation shows that deep themes are still able to be portrayed and discussed even through comedy.

Sex Strike in Togo 2012

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-08 15:47:31 UTC

This article focuses on the women of Togo, who decided to go on a sex strike in order to get their president to step down and the release of wrongly imprisoned prisoners. The women were told to lock up their “motherland” in exchange for democracy in their country. The women were encouraged to comply in order to make men yearn for sex the same way they and the whole country have been yearning for democracy. This article does bring up an interesting point that I have not seen mentioned before. It claims that many women outside of Togo found issue with this strike, as they believe that it puts greater emphasis on women's sexuality rather than their humanity. Claiming that this makes it seem that this is the only power women are able to hold against men. To this the women of Togo explained that they must band together and use the power they know they have rather than struggling to find another way they are able to take a stand. This is a theme that is also seen in the original story of Lysistrata. In ancient Greek times, women held very little power, their sexuality was one of the few things they had control over and even that was sometime taken from them. Nonetheless, the Greek women and Togolese women, alike, used a power they knew was strong. This strategy also yields quick results, with most sex strikes in history having a very quick turn around rate. Nonetheless, the women of Togo were successful in their actions, pressuring the men to take greater action led to increased democracy in the country, which in turn allowed the women to hold greater positions in society.

Liberian Civil War 2003

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-08 15:48:34 UTC

War had been raging in Liberia for many years. With this hundred of thousands lives had been lost, mass rape had occurred, and child soldiers were common to come across, but the government would not help to put an end to the violence, so war raged on. It was under the leadership of Leymah Gbowee that women throughout the entire country were brought together in order to fight for peace. As mentioned earlier during this civil war rape was used as a weapon, with many African societies being matriarchal this attack on women and girls was a direct attack on the Liberian culture. After the women were verbally attacked by the country's president, they decided to hold a sex strike in order to have control over something that is in their power. With this being said, they hoped this strike would slow down the use of rape as a weapon and encourage their husbands to turn to peace and pray for the end of the war. It is through this protest/strike they were able to get a meeting with the Liberian president, the man whose rule started the civil war. It was shortly after this meeting that another war broke out, this was the women's last straw. They now didn't ask for peace, they demanded it. The woman sat in an official building where decision were made in order to have their needs met, they were determined to stage their sit in for as long as it will take to achieve peace. After two weeks of sitting and pushing back men who tried to remove them, an agreement was signed, which ended the war and exiled the president. Due to their efforts in 2006 the country elected their first female president, who was also the first female president elected in Africa and in 2011 Leymah Gbowee won a Nobel Peace Prize for her leadership and non-violent path to peace. As far as the interpretation of Lysistrata goes, this was the first time in modern history where sex was used to fight a war in order to ensure peace and democracy. Within this story, readers can see Lysistrata come to life in various aspects, outside the sex strike. When the women take over the government building, this is similar to the women of Ancient Greece taking over a temple, which is an important military and power symbol. The connections between the original play and the story of these women who actually lived the story are undeniable, but there are also connections between the women in Liberia and other reinterpretations. In Chi-Raq, it is this strike that influences Lysistrata to take a stand and what gives her the blueprint for how to go about it.

Stage Adaptation

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-08 15:53:57 UTC

In this image, we see a particular scene from Lysistrata being played out. For those who are unaware of this scene, this is the point in the play where Lysistrata is giving the speech that bands the women together. In the original play they do this around a challis of wine, something that women were not allowed to indulge in, to show that they are the ones running the show now, not the men. This stage adaptation sets the play in an interesting time period, from the dress one can assume this takes place in the 1950s. In an era in which women have very few rights compared to their male counterparts, making this a very good era for Lysistrata to be reinterpreted into.

Art/Visuals

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-14 17:42:54 UTC

Film/Stage Adaptations

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-14 17:44:57 UTC

News

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-14 17:45:13 UTC

Political Cartoon of Lysistrata in the 21st Century

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-16 18:13:28 UTC

For my creative media, I was inspired by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. When this was overturned, it allowed the states to take control of their own laws regarding reproductive health. With this being said, many women lost rights to their own bodily autonomy. In the modern world this is quite the hot topic with the nation being divided on what they believe is right, but for the purpose of my media, I decided to envision Lysistrata as an individual who is pro-choice. Granted, a strike of this kind is not something that has been used to fight this particular case, but I still feel that in theory it is something that could still show the story of Lysistrata through the common theme of women taking a stand for something they believe is right. In this image, Lysistrata is the organizer of this protest, which is advocating for the rights of women. With the statement "no rights, no sex", the idea of not backing down until your agenda is noticed and action is taken is the central idea. This helps us to expand on the story of Lysistrata and look at it in a different lens. Granted the story is based on a sex strike, but sex is not the main point of the women's argument, they are advocating and pushing for their wants to be recognized, they want to be seen and understood in society. Sex was just their weapon of choice so that people would see that their thoughts and beliefs are valid. This is exactly what is going on currently in the arguments surrounding Roe v. Wade, women just want the choice to do as they please with their bodies. Hypothetically, if the women of modern day were to go on a sex strike to protest the overturning of Roe v. Wade, they will slowly gain followers for their cause. Husbands and partners will begin to follow and fight with them, just as they did in Liberia and Togo. With more traction to their cause, policy may begin to change again in their favor, all because they took inspiration from an ancient comedy where women refused sex in order to end a war.

My Creation

gstaudt01 — 2025-04-16 21:46:40 UTC