As the number of images coming out of Portland amid the infiltration of federal “agents” deployed by one, Donald Trump, continues to swell, one of the most iconic ones (to additionally make perverse men swell) not just of this period of protest but of recent history has all the makings of Hollywood lore, particularly in terms of whitewashing any of the more unpleasant details. The still unidentified woman being billed as a “Naked Athena” was caught in her now immortal pose thanks to Dave Killen, a photographer for The Oregonian and Oregon Live, who captured a glimpse of the “mythical creature” around 1:45 a.m. on July 19th just as she was about to place herself before the law enforcement officials.
According to onlookers (and numerous videos), “Athena” appeared wearing only a face mask and a stocking cap (as though about to rob a store in the 90s–because, once upon a time, the dream of the 90s was still alive in Portland) as she proceeded to engage in “ballet poses” (tending to make one believe she could be part of the town’s once rich stripper market). “Athena” then stood calmly in front of the officers as a couple of fellow protesters with homemade shields guarded her. She appeared as though she barely registered their presence at all. In fact, the only thing she seemed focused on was making an impression on the police with her stone cold aura in the buff. For as we all know, even now, the most effective way to make men uncomfortable is with a woman’s nudity.
Quickly glorified in the news above other heroines in the protest, “Athena” has also been compared to Lady Godiva, another woman shrouded in the grandiosity of legend, who rode through the town of Coventry as a means to protest her husband’s unjust taxation upon his tenants. Some said her decision to ride side-saddle in her birthday suit through the main thoroughfare was a result of her husband promising he would lower the taxes if she did so. Whether the tale–and any varied accounts surrounding it–was true or not, the effect the story has had on people remains what is most important. Godiva’s naked bravery has inspired for centuries since, along with the fact that she apparently invented voyeurism thanks to a man named Thomas a.k.a. Peeping Tom being “struck blind” or dead by the sight of her stacked physique.
And yet, this comparison to Godiva brings up another problematic issue in terms of white ladies taking center stage in moments of feminist empowerment such as this. To boot, Godiva herself was part of the nobility. She benefited from her affluent position as much as she did from being Anglo-Saxon (that is, white). Whoever this woman is, she, too, has been fortunate enough to delight in the freedoms of her skin tone. For would the image of a naked black woman–or, “worse” still, a naked black trans woman–have garnered Greek goddess-comparing headlines in a state as rooted in racism as Oregon? In a country as rooted in racism as the U.S.?
Portland frequently likes to tout itself as a utopia for liberalism and free-thinking, yet the very nature of this “immortal” image further shows that “sheros” are chosen with deliberateness (and by a man, no less). Would a toady-bodied fat ho (even if white) have been selected to represent the movement of peaceful protesting, of nonviolent civil disobedience? Of course not. The careful curation of who gets put in the role of savior–white savior, obviously–has not changed. Nor has the glamorization of protesting in the nude. One does not imagine anyone wanted to talk about such possibilities as Lady Godiva contracting flea bites from her horse or an unpleasant itchiness in her vag from riding without the basic protection of clothing separating her skin from the horse’s coarse hair. These are nuances that do not fit in with the purpose of folklore. To inspire awe, reverence and, most of all, show that a naked white woman is always divine. Heart-stopping.
In the case of Naked Athena, no one wants to move beyond their odd titillation long enough to see that this bia definitely had to have gotten a bit of road rash on her nude ass from sitting there like that. Not to mention the numerous cuts on her feet from her ballerina stylings and “interfacing” with police. Because to focus on the specific wounds of asphalt-sitting sans underwear would take away from the bolstering of this woman’s new image as a warrior goddess. The “apparition” the world needs right now to understand the stark contrast between peace and violence, that the former is the (fair-skinned) feminine divine and the latter just an emblem of patriarchy-sanctioned toxic masculinity (another way to cultivate the us v. them mentality of Americans). No one is saying this isn’t true, yet one must be careful of quick deification in these times when mythology is so easily spread through the wildfire of social media. Is this woman a “shero”? Sure. Have others throughout this protest put themselves on the line just as much (even if not naked)? Absolutely. Let’s keep that in perspective before we go turning someone into a god. And not just because gods don’t get blood on their ass from scraping it against concrete.
