Medusa & Women of India
Weekend reading of marketing and finance tidbits led me to an article explaining the story behind the logos of leading fashion houses. One such logo which caught my attention, was that of, Versace. The Versace logo resembles that of Medusa, one of the three Gorgon sisters in classical Greek mythology.
Medusa, my readers, as Ovid describes in Metamorphoses:
Medusa once had charms; to gain her love
A rival crowd of envious lovers strove.
They, who have seen her, own, they ne’er did trace
More moving features in a sweeter face.
Yet above all, her length of hair, they own,
In golden ringlets wav’d, and graceful shone.
My curiosity to know more about Medusa made me glance through plethora of articles where she was called the — ‘ only mortal among the Gorgon sisters’ , ‘ Monstrous’. How can someone described so elegantly by Ovid be a lady with serpents coiling around her hair?
On further reading, I understood that the great sea god Poseidon shared this admiration; for once he couldn’t resist the temptation and impregnated Medusa in a temple of Athena. Enraged, the virgin goddess transformed Medusa’s enchanting hair into a coil of serpents, turning the youngest Gorgon into the monster, as several address her now. Anyone who gazed at her directly would be turned into stone.
Transformed into a vicious monster with snakes for hair, she was killed by Perseus, who afterward used her still potent head as a weapon, before gifting it to Athena.
It made me wonder , why would a leading fashion brand want to have Medusa in their logo , a few clicks on their website indicate that inspiration for using Medusa’s head was “whoever falls in love with Medusa can’t flee from her.”
Quickly transcending oceans and boundaries, of course the neurons in my head did the work. I reached my place of comfort, to where my roots belong — India. I was astonished to see that Wikipedia has a dedicated page called “ Rape in India” with a mention of “Notable” cases , it seems. One glance at the notable cases, reminded me of two things:
1. Like Medusa, the women against whom such gory crimes were committed have now either become examples to quote when daughters of India today ask for freedom like their counterparts or are trying to live their life one day at a time with constant fear of being attacked again for seeking help or are now the favourite poster girls for media and publicity.
2. Like Perseus , the men who committed this distasteful act , are either being welcomed back to society as a “changed man” or have enough political clout and audacity to commit such acts again
Nirbhay , Gambhir, Aatmanirbhar — that’s what the today’s daughters of India are made of , yet just like Medusa , they exude charm , elegance and beauty. We worship our daughters — Kanya , they are no less that the Greek Goddess Medusa. Unfortunately their fate lines are no different, their personae sufficed to call the men of the society to not only obsess and admire them but also display this temptation in an obnoxious manner
The women or their families have been compensated with paper notes , political parties have chartered their agenda , new education schemes launched after the names of these women , Legislation’s passed and validation sought by news channels from the families of these women, schools and colleges running their annual day skits enacting the incident and spreading awareness and trumpeting how their institution has put in place annual prizes and awards named after the woman who has had to endure this distressing act. We have managed to build support group in every lane, locality — both in reality and virtually. The support groups, you think may be sensitising the human race, to my dismay they would rather put the spotlight on the mortal woman , shed crocodile tears about the incident and stand with their head held high and distribute awards again named after the woman.
Versace thought that Medusa would be perfect fit for their brand, as just like those who looked at Medusa turned into a stone with one glance, they hoped people would stay awestruck with their collection and build brand loyalty . You see, just like Medusa, the daughters of India have become stories. Stories for the families who want to protect their daughters, stories for the powerful and worthy, stories for the next Friday blockbuster, stories for the helplines , stories for the internet world , and probably a story on my blog today.
