Gender Issues In The Play Lysistrata

An ordinary everyday woman leading a group of women to protest against the highly anticipated Peloponnesian war by refusing sexual contact with their partner is considered implausible, especially considering the period of time in which the play was based in. It was not until the end of the play where Lysistrata, the leader of the revolt is finally able to pitch her idea in forming a peace treaty between Sparta and Athens. The play suggests that Lysistrata’s reasoning of wanting the war to end was for the wives to be kept company at home by their husband, an idea she sells to the group of women. It may seem as though the war coming to an end has brought improvements to gender issues, but reading deeper into the context suggests otherwise. Throughout countless times in the play, the idea of listening to ideas or suggestions by women would be considered rather absurd, and even more common to ignore them completely. To add on with the ideas of women being overlooked, war has no correlation in regards to improving gender inequalities. Ending the war and having their husbands return home simply means that they are back to square one when there was no war. The ending of the
Lysistrata delivers her speech emphasizing that Athenians would still be “cringing slaves, not free Athenians” (pg. 42) if it was not for the Spartans who lent them a helping hand. The men are paying more attention to the naked statue, Reconciliation than the actual speech itself, “(From this point, the male responses are less to Lysistrata than to the statue)” (Pg.42). The quote reinforces the idea that the men simply agreed to Lysistrata’s peace treaty because they are more so lustful of their wives, than genuinely caring about what Lysistrata had to