Lesbian Relationships as Overcoming the Patriarchy

My previous post provided a couple of examples of patriarchal behavior in domestic situations, both recently and about 100 years ago. The similarities were far more striking than the differences.

On a related note, here is actress Rachel Weisz' take on overcoming one aspect of the patriarchy, the notion that a man's wife belongs to him and that she should behave accordingly.

Weisz, despite being married to Daniel Craig, an actor who has now stared five times as one of the quintessential alpha males, James Bond, has apparently become a "queer icon" as a result of a number of film roles.

It's sort of like the notion: "you are what you wear."

These films, according to a profile in the 2019 "Greats" issue of T, the New York Times Style Magazine, have depicted Weisz "as someone with the clout to create the kinds of female roles that are rarely seen: women in intense, erotic relationships with other women, without apology or explanation."

Well, actually, Weisz does have an explanation. Later in the same article, she is quoted as saying: "There's something that happens in a scene when a woman is across from another woman. It sounds really pompous, but you are free from this history of ownership -- I mean that. It is really liberating."

In other words, free from the patriarchy.

Portraits of the Patriarchy

In this post, I will present two depictions of patriarchal behavior, the first written very recently and the second written about 100 years earlier.

The Jan. 26, 2020 issue of The New York Times Magazine contained an article about a new book by  a woman who transitioned to a man, relating what the author learned about masculinity from his father and grandfather.

Susanna's #MeToo Moment, Brought by Trinity Church

Back in the days of the Babylonian exile -- say around 550 bce -- one Jewish family is doing rather well.  Joacim, a wealthy man and his very attractive wife, Susanna, live in a prominent house with a large garden through which a stream flows and in which large trees grow.

A couple of local elders, who, among other things, help sort out disputes in the community, often carry out their duties  at Joacim's place and have become much taken with Susanna's charms.  Joacim. to carry out his business, has to travel and is sometimes away from home.

Susanna likes to bath in the garden's stream and one day sends her servants inside to find some things she needs for her ablutions.  Driven by lust, we are told, the two elders spot an opportunity, enter the garden and demand that Susanna have sex with them.  If she refuses, they will claim to have caught her committing adultery with a younger man, who then escapes, and have her put to death, Susanna is told.

When it comes to #MeToo moments, it doesn't get much worse: toxic masculinity at the top of the patriarchy.

Susanna, an exceptionally virtuous woman who lives by the laws of Moses, refuses their advances, but with no one else around, knows the community will believe the elders and she will die.

Leaving readers in suspense for the moment, I will pause to note that George Fredric Handel put Susanna's story to music in 1749  -- one of his English language oratorios that were sung, but not acted.  This was after Italian opera had fallen out of favor in London.

The very excellent baroque orchestra and choir of Manhattan's Trinity Church just put on a performance of "Susanna" in three parts, which readers can find here. Clicking on the appropriate links will stream the oratorio, part of an ongoing project by Trinity to perform all of Handel's bible-based oratorios, the most famous being "Messiah."

But back to Babylon.

Susanna is brought to public trial in which the respected elders serve as judges, prosecutors and witnesses. No one defends Susanna.  (Joacim is not specifically mentioned in the Bible as being at the trial although Susanna's children and other family members are.  In Handel's oratorio, he is depicted as hurrying home to his wife whom he believes is innocent, having heard news of the events from afar. "Is fair Susanna false? It ne're can be!" Joacim sings, with great conviction.)

But just as Susanna is condemned to death, a young man named Daniel steps forward and demands to question the elders separately as to what they saw in the garden.  When they tell him different stories -- locating the alleged act of adultery under different trees -- the assembled public sees that they are lying and rather than Susanna, they are put to death.  Just like that.

Daniel goes on to become one of the Bible's most important prophets.

The story of Susanna is a somewhat curious one as biblical scholar Jennifer A Glancy explains in her article "Susanna: Apocrypha." Interested readers can click on that link to discover why.

But what about Trinity Church's "Susanna?"  I HIGHLY recommend it!