THE EFFECT OF CULTURE ON GODDESSES
Which “goddesses” does the culture support through the roles it
allows women to have? Stereotypes of women are positive or negat-
ive images of goddess archetypes. In patriarchal societies, the only
acceptable roles are often the maiden (Persephone), the wife (Hera),
and the mother (Demeter). Aphrodite is condemned as “the whore”
or “the temptress,” which is a distortion and devaluation of the
sensuality and sexuality of this archetype. An assertive or angry
Hera becomes “the shrew.” And some cultures, past and present,
actively deny expression of independence, intelligence, or sexuality
in women—so that any signs of Artemis, Athena, and Aphrodite
must be quelled.
In ancient China, for example, the custom of binding women’s
feet meant that women were physically crippled as well as psycho-
logically limited by roles that did not allow independence. Under
such conditions, certain goddesses could live only in myths. In her
novel The Woman Warrior,^2 Maxine Hong Kingston wrote of the de-
valuation and demeaning of Chinese women, which has persisted
into the present. By contrast, she recounted a myth about a strong,
Chinese woman-warrior heroine. The myth showed that even if a
goddess pattern cannot be lived out in the real life of a woman, that
goddess may still find expression in fairytales, myths, and women’s
dreams.
Women’s lives are shaped by the allowable roles and idealized
images of the time. These stereotypes favor some goddess patterns
over others. In the United States, there have been major shifts in
expectations of “what a woman should be” in the past several dec-
ades. For example, the baby boom that followed World War II em-
phasized marriage and motherhood. This was a fulfilling time for
women who had Hera’s need to be a mate, and for women with
Demeter’s maternal instinct. It was a difficult time for Athena or
Artemis women who were intellectually curious and competitive
and wanted to express excellence or achievement at any other task
other than raising a family. Women went to college to get their
“M.R.S. Degree” and, once married, often dropped out of school.
Suburban “togetherness” was the ideal. American
Goddesses in Everywoman