I have reviewed The Rape Trial of Medusa by Michael Kasenow for Reader’s favorite.
The Rape Trial of Medusa by Michael Kasenow is a fascinating fiction in fantasy subgenre. For ages, Olympians were worshipped as Gods. Medusa Gorgon was a priestess in the temple of Athena Olympian. When she was raped in the same temple, Athena was outraged. Instead of finding the truth behind the crime, she accused Medusa of seducing a man inside the place that was created to honor her. To create an example of her, she cursed her into a hideous monster with deadly snakes hissing from her head and exiled her to a deadly island to live a life of solitude. After centuries, it was revealed that Olympians were no Gods; they were just a very powerful and influential family who owned millionaires and billionaires.
“… Try having a dozen snakes break out from your skull and see how it feels. The pain was unbearable. I was frightened and lost — exiled, alone, by myself — and these serpents came from nowhere, breaking through my bone, burrowing upward, hissing and wiggling and snapping at me. They, too, were scared, I suppose, but I was terrified. All alone and ugly as sin, a thousand sins, and it hurt like hell.
– The Rape Trial of Medusa by Michael Kasenow
Soon afterward, Medusa appealed for a rape trial in the international court of New York. What followed was an exhilarating clash of extremists who wanted Medusa’s head and people who considered Medusa wrongly accused and severely punished. With a strong feminist lawyer, Maggie Harper, on her side, Medusa had a fair chance at justice; however, Zeus Olympian and his family were hellbent on proving her to be nothing more than a mere monster and a seductress.
“Oh, please. Don’t lecture me about your laws concerning women. Your laws determine if a dress can go above the knees. Or if shoulders can be bare. In some cultures, a woman cannot show her face. Your culture determines if a woman wears too much makeup — or not enough. If a woman is alone in a bar she is loose, a whore — men, not so much. If a woman laughs at a joke, she is flirting. If she is friendly, she is promiscuous. If she wears red, she ‘wants it.’ If she wears black, she is dangerous and provocative. A woman wearing high heels or tight pants sends a message to the lustful eye. Your laws concerning women are obscene.
The Rape Trial of Medusa by Michael Kasenow
Concealed behind an enthralling page-turner is Michael Kasenow ‘s abhorrence toward the horrid crimes against women and society’s irrational mindset against women. While Medusa represents many women who were punished for their own rape time and again, Maggie Harper comes forward as the image of fortitude in the face of a society that worshipped money and power. Medusa’s philosophical banter with one of the side characters, Jack Hardy, was thought-provoking. Zeus as an antagonist provoked hatred and fear with his monstrosity and perverse mindset. By including a simulating trial, Michael Kasenow glued the readers to the edge of their seats. It is an impactful book that forces its readers to look at the ugly side of society. If courtroom drama, social issues, action, and profound conversations intrigue you, then The Rape Trial of Medusa by Michael Kasenow is a perfect book for you.
Becoming the victim of a rape, and then being blamed for that rape, is common to honor violence. The rape victim is considered to be the perpetrator or seducer. Women are deemed responsible for the rape, even if they did nothing to provoke the crime. Five thousand honor killings occur each year because of rape, divorce, homosexuality, or refusal of a marriage. This is an international epidemic; the woman’s accusation is always looked at with a jaundiced eye, even in the first world centuries.
– The Rape Trial of Medusa by Michael Kasenow
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