Medusa files

I'm still struggling to get much done in the evenings. There are too many visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. It's so difficult not to indulge yourself thinking about things that make you happy.

The best thing i did last night was 30 minutes of writing, 30 minutes of research and many hours of thinking about it. The writing part was quite fun and i have to remember that it is fun, and not a scary trial. Nothing is really, once you're doing it.

This is my research from last night on Medusa. I like this kids version, it makes me laugh. It's so simple but actually quite true. Making stories kid-friendly isn't really about dumbing them down, but getting rid of all the unneccessary bits. Although, i'm not sure if Medusa was really so in love with said boyfriend. He seemed to get off quite free in the whole affair.

So then to balance things out, i found this thesis on Medusa and how she is treated in literature from a feminist perspective. Don't be frightened. It's not a radical position, but it does take into account the dichotomies between male and female, and looks at who is taking power from who.

There's really two stories in both, because Medusa is quite sympathetic as a character because her punishment was seriously excessive, and she was condemned to loneliness and death just for being too pretty. But then Perseus isn't really a bad guy either. He was trying to rescue his mother, and he needed the Gorgon's head to do that. And anyway it was that bitch Athena who gave him the mirrored shield anyway - the same one who had cursed Medusa with snake-hair and a look of death in the first place. Can't she just leave the poor girl alone?

At best, all she did was flaunt her pretty hair about in Athena's temple. At worst, she got raped there. Where's the sisterhood?