The myth of Lilith: the 1st woman and the machismo

Lilith, (3 different views/zooms), graphite and ink on paper by Salas, E. (2020)

On the 8th day of quarantine in Paris I wrote this.

I had been thinking about this previously and since the obnoxious amount of extra time, I decided to put it in words now. I made a drawing about the myth of Lilith, the 1st woman. And I don’t know, if I have a voice, I want to use it to make people think. So… Keep reading for the whole thing or stop here, you might learn about a thing or two.

The distorted mythology surrounding Lilith, represents the ultimate tale of patriarchy painting women’s sexuality as something dark and demonic. In almost all religious texts, Lilith is depicted as a demon rather than a Goddess. Her archetype has become a warning signal to scare women who wished to continue praying to the sacred feminine and honoring their own bodies as holy.

The original story is loaded with patriarchal and Machism crap, which is hugely and tragically embedded in our culture today. The archetype of Lilith, which initially represented sexual empowerment and freedom of choice, has been distorted.

It intimidates me greatly to write and represent her in a drawing because, I come from one of the most sexists’ countries in the world; Mexico, and me as many other women we have been raised ‘as servants’ to men with no voice.
The tale of Lilith reflects the tale of all women today: the narrative of blaming women for men’s uncontrolled sexual desires is exactly what we see reflected in modern rape culture.

I see how the Lilith’s archetype live as the Within-Each-of-Us. This means that the story of Lilith, her original genius and her distorted oppression, lives somewhere within us all. As my work intends to plunge into the realm of Sexual Justice, I become more aware of Lilith’s rage and her yearning to be remembered. I hear her fierce desperation to be acknowledged for her gifts, her true form, and her genius. I hear it and it represents me as well.

Lilith says: Fuck your patriarchal garden. Let’s plant some real, sensual, sustainable, sexy, soulful, earth-nourishing seeds. Doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman. Liberation is for us all.

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