Artemis 

impressions of Unity Dow

Artemis, Goddess of the moon, the hunt and wild creatures, was known as a free-spirited independent self-reliant protector/patron of girls and women, particularly those in childbirth, the victimized and the powerless.

Motswana judge, politician, and Human Rights Activist, Unity Dow is internationally acclaimed for her work on women and LGBTQ rights.

Artemis

The personification of the independent feminine spirit, Artemis/Diana represents achievement and competence; independence from men and male opinions; and concern for victimized, powerless women and the young.

Known to the Greeks as Artemis and to the Romans as Diana, she was the Olympian Goddess of the Moon, Goddess of Wildlife, of the Hunt and Chastity. Diana/Artemis roamed the wilderness, forests, mountains, meadows and glades with a band of nymphs and hunting dogs.

She is also known as the Goddess of Childbirth since she aided her mother, Leto in her own birth. Thereafter she was called upon to aid women in childbirth. She is also one of the few goddesses who repeatedly came to the aid of her mother.

In one story Artemis caught the hunter Actaeon watching her and her nymphs bathing in a hidden pool. Furious at this intrusion, she splashed water into his face which turned him into a stag. Subsequently he became quarry for his own hunting dogs and was torn to bits.

The part of that story most frequently depicted in Art, however, is the moment when she is surprised — and less so her subsequent rage at the fact that viewing her without her consent is unacceptable, and in the eyes of the goddess, punishable by death.

Curiously, the art world continues to undermine and violate her wishes, depicting her as if from the eyes of the voyeur, continually spying on her in private moments without her consent.

What does that say about us and society?

Does it not convey the message that women’s concerns or wishes or rights are to be ignored or trampled?

To me this seems puerile, childish, defiantly immature. It’s time to grow up and respect each other!

Unity Dow

Unity Dow is a Motswana judge, Human Rights Activist, writer and politician, currently serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Unity Dow is internationally acclaimed for her work on women’s rights. In 2010, she was awarded the French Medal of the Légion d’honneur de France for her human rights activities.

She successfully challenged the law that argued that citizenship was inherited by children from the fathers and not from their mothers. She also went to court to argue that a gay rights group was legal and not unconstitutional in the law of Botswana.

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