Galatea

Galatea represents the oppressive patriarchy’s ideal. A perfectly shaped, perfectly white, perfectly chaste little girl who has no will or freedom of her own. She exists only for him.

All throughout history we have seen this. From the beginnings of America when women were nothing more than their husbands property, without land or money or a voice of their own. Through the late Victorian times when, as women began to gain their footing, want for freedom and equality, the patriarchy used their own fashions against them and claimed their to- tightly laced corsets showed how silly and vain they all were. They could never, god forbid… vote.

Today, billboards advertise color correctors and concealers for the perfect face, shape-wear and fad diets for the perfect body. Lipstick that will make him fall head over heels for you, the perfect red dress for your first date and yet, in the past, only prostitutes wore makeup. If you make a move on a man you might be a slut but if you won’t give him what he wants your a prude or a bore.

We cannot weigh too much nor too little, our skirts and dresses not to long nor too short, we should embrace our natural beauty and not be a try-hard but if our bodies bear a single imperfection it must be covered up. Spend hundreds upon hundreds of throwaway dollars trying to be perfect for a society in which we will never be enough because women just aren’t enough. We are lesser, weaker, more fragile, more corruptible, inherently evil ever since poor Eve ate the apple.

This concept of “The Spell of Galatea” is and has been present in society in many ways, or hundreds of years. The idea of “the perfect woman” is an unattainable standard that only serves to tear down young girl’s self esteem and further subject her to the perils of the male gaze. Because that’s what this is all about. Pygmalion created her because he found all real women below him, too dirty and promiscuous to be worth a man’s love. Galatea was never a figure for women, but for men.