Gendering in Ancient Greece
Lysistrata, by Aristophanes, exemplifies an act of women of Ancient Greece unifying and making a bold statement about gender roles and the clear inaccuracy of the competency of women to achieve the cohesive goal of ending the Peloponnesian war. In his play, Aristophanes analyzes how people “do gender”1 according to Judith Lorber and how male and female characters are depicted. While the play Lysistrata seems to primarily address the redefining of gender roles, the play as a whole reinforces the distinct roles of both genders that are seen in Ancient Greek culture as well as in modern culture.
The first scene in Lysistrata opens up to the traditional portrayal of a Grecian society with the women as obedient and caring housewives and the men at war. It is clear that women are given a predetermined role in society to only care for the household and keep a good physical figure to please their husbands. In other words, the women of Greece are given the predetermined role to be subordinate and subservient to the males and are expected to obtain this role as the foundation of society. In Judith Lorber’s words, males are considered the “A”2, or dominant of society, and women are considered the “not A”3 of society because they are considered incapable of being strong (or masculine) enough to dominate or have any prominent rule in society. Throughout the play it is the women, Athenians and Spartans alike who are challenging their role of “not A” and joining together to expose themselves as how they view themselves: intelligent, logical, and powerful.
Throughout the play, the men of Greece are portrayed as dimwitted and unreasonable, yet dominant. Women are stereotyped and are expected to be submissive, quiet, and caring for their homes, husbands, and children. It is this stereotype that women in Greece are breaking away from by speaking up to and disobeying their husbands’ wishes. The young women of Greece rebel by abstaining sex from their husbands and the older women of Greece rebel by seizing the Acropolis. These acts are collectively a major step towards revolution for the social construct of gender roles in Grecian society. However, once the peace treaty between Athens and Sparta is struck, the domineering voices of females fade away and are once again overshadowed by the dominating voice of men. This reveals that although the women of Greece challenge the roles of gender in their society, their only real objective was to end the war and bring their men back home. With this goal achieved, it is clear that men as well as women are more comfortable fitting into their roles as man or woman than not and male dominance is a deeply integrated and unquestioned part of their society.
Masculinity is viewed to be a more respectable trait than femininity. Masculinity is depicted as being strong, stubborn, an aggressive while femininity is depicted as being weak, submissive, and fragile. Lysistrata shows more masculine aspects while addressing her audience as the leader of the feminist movement to end the war. Unlike the rest of the female characters, Lysistrata displays herself as unaffected by sexual desires and she does not behave in the quiet, submissive manner that women are expected to. Because she rejects the role of the stereotypical female, Lysistrata is capable of commanding and receiving respect and recognition from the male leaders. When peace is being acknowledge between Athens and Sparta, it is Lysistrata who is called upon to forge the peace treaty. In this way, Lysistrata succeeds in what she set out to accomplish by acting as a masculine female. While attempting this goal, she calls upon the women of Athens to act as the “manliest of women” 4 to be viewed as more serious and powerful than they are in their male-dominated society.
Lysistrata succeeds in her objective to end the war by exploiting females as purely sexual beings. Men view woman through the narrow lens of women’s sexual potential