Lysistrata

Going into Lysistrata, I was expecting more of the Shakespeare-esque type of play, thus I was pleasantly surprised by the true content it had to offer. Due to the vulgarity and more explicit exposition, I assumed that it was a modern play when reading the first few pages and I think the fact of it truly was written was what I found most surprising. Usually, when it comes to plays given to us by the Greeks, I would not typically associate any work such as this and it took me back how relevant and topical it was to today. 

The line on the bottom of page 54, "What man among you can say that he gave birth to a nation? Miserable graybeards— the richer you get the less you pay," encapsulated a lot of the topics we addressed in class on Wednesday. Yes, this is definitely salacious and one would not expect to find it in most school libraries, that, ultimately, is not why it's banned. It handles more subtle social conflicts that some would rather not expose others to, such as we saw with The Hate U Give getting banned for youth activism. Its discussion of candid female power, social class disparities, and gender privilege makes it just as relevant even our modern society. The backbone of it's commentary is rooted in feminine sexual liberation, which is a conversation that is still avoided even now, whereas male sexuality is less taboo. It heavily emphasized the fact that women are easily as capable at accomplishing many of the same leadership roles and activities that are male dominated and, in a way, are actually better suited to such tasks as the overall portrayal of men was as greed, careless, and foolish leaders. These underlying themes, I think, are made more striking given the time in which it was written and that it was written by a man, as it seems to make a mockery of the values we usually associate with Greek men of the time. 


I have really enjoyed the tutoring so far! Given that I go later in the evening, many of the students are done with their work by the time I get there so I've been mostly been playing games and just interacting with the kids. I have started with working one student on Zoom and it has been really great to talk with her! I found that we are both very similar in our studying routines and, unfortunately, our inherent love for procrastination. We've only discussed organization and studying tips but it's been really nice to share that with someone else who is having a very similar experience to what I had at her age. Seeing as I typically only work with kids during the summer, it has been really nice and refreshing to step back into that kind of role - I forgot how much I love working with students!

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