Uppboði lokið

Medusa, contrary to what most believe, is a positive character. She is the evil that repels evil. The story goes that Medusa was a beautiful and good woman that was wronged by men and gods. Athena punished her for being raped, and in the end, she has beheaded by Perseus.

In this painting, Medusa is killed again.

The Rubensian head with hair made of snakes is squashed under the literal image of a modern woman. Does this mean that women are reinventing femininity and neglecting the traditional ways of being a woman? Or that the modern interpretation of being a woman, still shaped by a patriarchal society, is killing traditional feminity? The viewer is up to decide.