"You Will Not Enjoy This" - Queen Gorgo, "300" (2006)

I finished Susan Faludi's Terror Dream (http://www.amazon.com/Terror-Dream-Fantasy-Post-9-America/dp/0805086927) and was stunned by Faludi's account of the damage that revisionist historical accounts and literature had done to the accounts of female heroism in America. According to Faludi's research, American society has a pervasive notion that women need protection from men against threats. After reading this material, I turned to a piece of media that showed a depiction of female heroism in an interesting situation: the depiction of Queen Gorgo of Sparta in the movie 300 (2006, directed by Zack Synder: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/).

First of all, Queen Gorgo is in a female position of power within possibly the most patriarchal society in human history. However, she is depicted to relish within the masculine strength of the quasi-fascist republic of Sparta. This idea is best portrayed when the messenger of Xerxes asks who she was to speak in the company of men, to which she replies "only Spartan women give birth to real men" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/quotes, found a little before halfway down the page). This example of androcentrism, the idea of women judged in value in relation to men, is interesting in that Queen Gorgo has beaten the messenger at his own game; he insults her status as a female, and in response, she emasculates him while praising her own ability to produce "real men."

Another example with Queen Gorgo within 300 that came to mind is her rape and betrayal by Theron. In order to gain support within the all-male Spartan government, she had to sell her body for Theron's support. However, Theron has been bribed by the enemy and proceeds to default on the agreement. In response, Queen Gorgo displays a "masculine" display of violence: she takes a sword from a man nearby and kill Theron with it. This example in particular made me think of the Susan Faludi reading because Ms. Faludi, in The Terror Dream, gave several example of women who were captured and committed violence to escape. In the movie, unlike the reactions described by Faludi, the rest of the Spartan council is impressed by this show of strength and aids Queen Gorgo.

(something is wrong with the adding a photo option, so I am putting a link to a poster that shows Queen Gorgo's role in the movie in a nutshell: http://www.hollywoodnoise.com/image.php?productid=16285)