‘I’m tired of complaining that the situation is dire; I like the feeling of being part of the push for change, too.’
‘There are a lot of things about us women that sadden me, considering how men see us as rascals,” sighs Lysistrata, at the beginning of the play that bears her name.
Jesus would not be born for another four centuries, Athens was battling Sparta, and the golden age of Greece was about to come crumbling down. Women were fed up; their men had been fighting the Peloponnesian War for far too long. Lysistrata was one strong Greek mama, and enough dying is enough. She co-opted a Spartan lady as a partner for peace, and together they spread the word: No more sex for any soldiers till they lay down their arms and lie back in the loving arms of their women.
The play, written by Aristophanes in the fifth century BCE, takes a sly look at gender relations and power, as well as unpicking the age-old question of what women really want. Peace, it seems, is way at the top of the list. And if crying and pleading with their men won’t stop the war, a sex embargo might just do the trick. (It does. Desperately frustrated fighters race through peace talks and sign a deal.)
Women in Israel and the West Bank have not, so far, issued a no-action decree until all military action is suspended, but many, many of them have had enough of war……
