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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