Demeter, Forgotten Feminist Hero

 Not a lot of girls would say that a grain Goddess is their biggest role model, but heck, I really love Demeter.

Many Pagans tend to emphasize the more flashy youthful Gods like Aphrodite and Apollo. As for me, I respect and admire Demeter as a powerful mature woman who has Her proverbial shit together. She's a survivor who's been through hell and back (literally) and protects vulnerable people. Demeter gives me the same energy as those women who wear Free Mom Hugs t-shirts at Pride and go to rallies to protect trans kids. 

While some deities like Hades are more popular today than They ever were in ancient times, others, like Demeter, are vilified and misunderstood. How did that happen?

I honestly believe that one of the biggest culprits is ageism, something that Jessie talks about a lot over at Tea With the Gods on Tumblr. Maiden Goddesses like Persephone and Artemis shine in the cultural spotlight, while Demeter is shunted off to the shadows for being "less beautiful," "less glamorous," "less feminist," or "less important." Some go as far as to say that Demeter is "suffocating," or even "emotionally abusive." 

I think your mommy-baggage is showing.

A modern interpretation could view Demeter as a single mother and rape survivor. In Greek mythology, Persephone was born as a product of sexual violence, and it seems like Demeter raised Her without a lot of help from papa. In fact, numerous myths like the curse of Arcadia, show Demeter dealing with the trauma- something that modern women can pray to Her about. She's tough, that Demeter. She once cursed a man with perpetual hunger for committing the crime of deforestation. If that isn’t an environmentalist warning, I don’t know what is.

Homeric Hymn to Demeter echoes the collective trauma of mothers and daughters who were separated at an early age due to marriage arrangements that they had little say in. Just like Persephone and Hades, Greek brides were typically teen or preteen girls, whereas husbands were men in their thirties or even forties. It may have been normalized in ancient times, but that doesn't mean that girls my age can consent to sex with men old enough to be their fathers.  

Demeter stood up to the patriarchy to save Her daughter.

We often define women- and Goddesses- by the roles thrust upon them: mother, wife, maiden. Demeter is primarily known for the Persephone myth, but did you know that one of her epithets is The Lady of the Golden Blade and that She drives a chariot yoked by dragons? She is so much more than a dusty grain Goddess or an overbearing mother. 

If you’re willing to look, She’s a feminist hero.