Archetypes: The Sage.

Finally, we have reached the last Queen Archetype from the Mopop Queen Within exhibition! She is The Sage, and what a wonderful woman to finish with.

 She's the thinker, planner, risk-taker, and philosopher in all of us. She has wisdom, intelligence, and self-reflection and uses these powers to understand the world.

Her biggest fears are being ignored or tricked by others. This can lead to her weakness, which is the seductive lure of never-ending research.

The Sage cares about the environment and wants sustainable fabrics. Her clothing invites inquiry.

 What do you wear to invoke The Sage? What makes you feel wise and able to take risks?

Archetypes: The Enchantress

We are at our second-to-last archetype from the MoPop A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes exhibition. This one is The Enchantress.

 She's the familiar seductress, vamp, and femme fatale (whose sexuality is defined in terms of her interactions with men) but also a sensualist and enthusiast. Her strengths are passion, wit, spiritual and bodily appeal. She mesmerizes but also can manipulate.

She wears clothes that entice. She is symbolized by her direct and sensual gaze, her loose hair or fabulous wigs, red lips, feathers, teeth, and flowers.

What are your favorite Enchantress outfits? What symbolizes women's sensuality to you?

Archetypes: The Explorer

In my June 26th blog post, I introduced us to the Museum of Pop Culture's Queen Within show. Today, we will explore the second archetype they discuss - the Explorer.

 She is a pioneer, adventurer, and a rebel. She's all over challenges and rejects authority. Her strengths are determination and independence, and her fears are conventionality, inner emptiness and boredom.

In this exhibit, the Explorer woman rebelled against the rigid framework of beauty and consumerism. She wore clothes that paid attention to issues of gender, race, and disability.

She is symbolized by the planets, the moon, the egg, the night, and the turtle.

What do you wear that expresses your inner Explorer? What makes you feel strong and determined?

Archetypes: The Heroine

I've  been talking about the brilliant Queen Within exhibit at MoPop in Seattle. (here)

The third Archetype we visited was The Heroine. She's a warrior and soldier. She's strongly moral and embraces challenges, especially the thrill of the chase. She's a hard worker, especially in her relationships, but can get addicted to emotional drama.

Her greatest fears are weakness, softness, and cowardice. Her tenacity, strength, and mental resolve are symbolized by the chess queen (the most powerful piece on the board), pearls, gloves, rare stones, the spear, the Mantua, and also body parts such as ears, eyes, and hands.

Feed your head! (apologies to Jefferson Airplane): The Thespian

Earlier this month, I went to the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, Washington. An amazing exhibit called A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes completely blew my mind. It is an exhibition organized by Barrett Barrera Projects and curated by MUSEEA. You can see its Pinterest Board here.

I've discussed Archetypes before (see here, here, and here, for starters). Usually for women, our archetypes are tri-fold (Mother, Maiden, Crone), or limited in power (Waif, Seductress, Nurturer). The exhibit showed me new archetypes for my female characters.

I was so thrilled that I'm going to do a several part series on this show! Let's begin.

The first archetype we meet in the show is The Thespian. According to the words in the show, she is "an actress, entertainer, dramatist, or comedian. She loves to amuse others and enjoys the drama of life....Her greatest fear is to be constricted by routine, so she tends to dismiss the mundane aspects of life."

She is symbolized by extravagance and a vivid palette, as well as images of the earth, the labyrinth, the crane, the bear, water, greyhounds, peacocks, pelicans, and the phoenix.

Who do you know has aspects of the Thespian? What clothes do you own that makes you feel extravagant and vivid?