'No means yes'
Iran and that Renaissance idea about women
Iran is having a moment around the ‘no means yes’ idea that women can’t be taken at their word.
This is an old notion and it is laid bare, believe it or not, in Renaissance art. We saw it vividly portrayed in two very different renderings of the story around Susanna and the Elders, which is related in the Book of Daniel.
Consider Artemisia Gentileschi and Ludovico Carracci’s depictions of the story. Gentileschi, a woman, depicts the virtuous and beautiful young Susanna as anguished, while she tries to ward off the attentions of two older men. The two “Elders” are watching Susanna as she bathes in her garden.
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