Well, it's time maybe for a little meta-update here, and I must say that it's a little disappointing to have all this fine intellectual and pop culture fodder here, not to mention the wit and poignant memoir, only to discover that the main reason that people drop by here is to see Lisa Lyon wearing a snake.
Okay, okay, I get it. Women and snakes. I see the attraction.
I'm a little surprised that my essay on Black Snake Moan didn't get more attention, but that was a movie review, and didn't have any sexy pictures in it. Maybe I should have reviewed the remake of Bedazzled, and put the Elizabeth Hurley photo in it.
More pop culture reference, I was watching a CSI rerun on cable a few nights ago, the one about the UFO cult that thought we'd been invaded by lizard people, and there is some goofball saying something like "The Snake is a symbol of knowledge." Uh, yeah. Right. Knowledge. That's the ticket. That is absolutely what I'm thinking about when I see a woman with a snake. Knowledge.
As you might expect, there is an entire "Women and Snakes" fandom, no surprise there. Actually, I'd say that there are several, interlocking fandoms. There are guys who like to look at women with snakes, or photographs of women with snakes. There are photographers who like to photograph women with snakes. And then there are a lot of women who like snakes.
One person, who is in both of the last two categories seems to have a studio in Oakland, fairly near where I live, called "Snake's Kin Studio." Her site also has a number of videos, for those who like to be sure the snakes are still alive.
One of the sites these images come from has the specific disclaimer, "There is no pornography on this site." I pretty much agree, although I don't always know it when I see it.
8 comments:
"The Snake is a symbol of knowledge." Uh, yeah. Right. Knowledge. That's the ticket. That is absolutely what I'm thinking about when I see a woman with a snake. Knowledge.
In the Garden of Eden, it was a snake that enticed Eve to eat of the Fruit of The Tree of Knowledge. That is the symbolism you seem to have missed.
The sinewy nature of snakes add to the similarly beauty of a sinewy and fit young woman, that's all. It's kinda cool, especially if the woman being photographed is gorgeous in her own right.
Relax!
Uh, I never said that I knew of no symbolic or literary connections between snakes and knowledge, just that it wasn't the first thing that I thought of when I see a woman with a snake.
Nor, I suspect, is it the first thing that women think of when they see a snake. I'm also pretty sure that the high traffic that the "women and snakes" images produce here does not come from people seeking abstract "Knowledge." Try googling images of "women and snakes" with the filters turned off and you'll soon see what I mean.
By the way, the rhetorical construction that I was using is called "irony."
Fair enough, you are quite right. Though I don't think I'll be Googling for images of girls with snakes ;-)
It is telling that Genesis presents the pursuit of knowledge as an evil. That view sustains religion and produced the Dark Ages, not to mention the mind/body dichotomy that wrongly divides sex and purity of soul —a notion initiated by Plato et al. The latter sustains the widespread, lewd view of sex. It drives men toward sluts, and better women to refuse when they should joyfully indulge.
That brings to mind Elliot Spitzer. A man who seeks the lowest spiritual values in sex while pretending to a higher moral ground in serving the Common Good. The irony is both his views are both depraved, but he sticks must apologize for the former, while trying to use the latter as a shield.
Well there is a really ancient tradition going way back into the mists of time that snakes are symbolic representations of rebirth. What it's about is that our ancestors, before we got all civilized were very close to everything natural, and so they would see a snake crawling out of its skin, which they need to do from time to time as they grow, but it does look kind of like this critter just died and reborn itself.
Now of course in those days also women were highly respected for their ability to bring forth new life.(among many other things) This is how the bond was formed 50,000 years ago. Or maybe long before that. Anyway ancient rock drawings leave no doubt that snakes were the familiars of women for countless millennia. This by the way is why Eve was so willing to listen to the snake- but that's another story
Knowledge, Rebirth & Deception.. All come from women and snake. Same story different versions, Adam & Eve gained knowledge (ate the fruit of knowledge)the story is well explained above, REBIRTH expelled from heavens on to earth for this deed ( rebirth as new life started on earth ) may be snake changing skin also considered as a part of rebirth by most probably the Hindu myths
There is another aspect.. deception.. the snake deceived (lead them to do wrong) and hence the subconscious of most of people familiar to the above keep pushing people to think as snake + women = sin which can include the images of women with snakes without filer on google search. However if we just come back to the time we live in .. There is only one meaning of snake and women... Adult pictures
That is not what snakes are for. Making women sexy. No. Snakes are much more than that.
There is no irony about it. That justs disgusts me.
Snakes is Sin Judged, they love snakes to fulfil their Lust
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