Inspiring tale of goddess defending female-only spaces offends Muslims, because nudity!

[theilltemperedclavecinist]

Yes, this is probably just a tale of poor local race relations, and the prudishness of Muslim culture, but I was struck by the subject matter of the painting.

In the myth depicted, Diana has Actaeon torn apart by his own dogs after he accidentally sees her and her women bathing.

If only we had that power! Then Muslim schoolgirls wouldn't have to avoid women's toilets when they effectively go mixed-sex.

(Dramatic hyperbole. I don't really want to set dogs on anybody)

Diana and Acteon is a deeply disturbing myth. Diana was not defending only women spaces though, she was defending her right as a goddess to exclude who she pleased (see her treatment of Callisto) and Acteon, her FRIEND, did not mean to transgress, it was an accident. Look closely at the story and it perpetuates the fear that women are dangerous, unhinged (the moon is a metaphor for the menstrual cycle) and that we will act irrationally towards men. Not a message I would want pushed on anyone. As to the Muslim/nudity aspect, if you live in a culture where nudity in art is considered proper then put up with it, I'm afraid, because it is the local culture and you have no right to interfere if it is doing no harm to anyone (mind, I am not condoning the acceptance and widespread use of pornography, which should be heavily regulated as it exploits and damages women, and that includes the pornification of advertising and the media).

Diana was not defending only women spaces though, she was defending her right as a goddess to exclude who she pleased (see her treatment of Callisto) and Acteon, her FRIEND, did not mean to transgress, it was an accident

Gods aren’t people, the same myths get told and retold in many different ways, and a myth depicting a goddess protecting her own boundaries is particularly likely to be twisted by a patriarchal culture - there’s nothing shit men hate more than women’s boundaries, that’s been true for thousands of years.

Even real women are frequently depicted as crazy or irrational for standing up for themselves, and every kind of excuse under the sun is made for transgressive men. Of course some of the men who told the story of a goddess defending her boundaries would have told it like that. The bigger theme is very clear, the “he was her friend and she was just being mean and crazy” is an incidental detail revealing the perspective of certain narrators.

It was Jupiter, disguised as Diana, who caused Callisto to become pregnant.

Is this the earliest example of a male pretending he was female to gain access to women?

Note that it’s innocent Callisto who pays the price. Trans-Jupiter gets away free.

Is this about the painting shown in the French school?

If so, the painting is kind of offensive actually, whatever the story in the myth. Painting of man (dressed), several women (all nude), obviously done for the male gaze. A common approach of course, but offensive nonetheless.

Art is art; beautiful, offensive is all in the eye of the beholder. I worship Diana and totally loved her myths as a child and now as an adult. Diana and Actaeon is beautiful myth, beautiful art.
She is a unapologetic wrathful goddess!

Even if Actaeon was Diana's friend it doesn't mean he gets to see her and her attendant ladies naked and of course she can exclude whoever she wants. Boundaries are good.

Yes, boundaries are good. But his intrusion is accidental and his death horrific. The story is really about the irrationality of women (not well-thought of by ancient Greeks, they did not even have an input into their children, being just vessels) who are under the influence of Diana, the waning and waxing moon with which women were thought to be in tune with - words about madness refer to the moon, for example 'lunatic'. So boundaries are good but the story of Diana and Acteon is not about them.