A funny little historical fact would be that of the first political cartoon. It depicst the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, getting screwed by a man believed to be her lover, chief architect Senmut. It is kind of fascinating how these people lived almost 4000 years ago and yet, the same obsessions that still plague us today, plagued our ancestors.
Hatshepsut was an interesting character — though a woman, she assumed the title of Pharaoh (King) upon her husband’s death and reigned for over twenty years. To further ‘look the part’, she wore not only the full regalia of a King, but even a fake beard on her face. She oversaw the construction of great palaces and temples and was, by all accounts, a ruler every bit as tough and all-powerful as any other… yet when she died, many of her monuments were destroyed, and her statues defaced.
For all her reign, Hatshepsut carried herself like a King. But her subjects still tried to belittle her by creating lewd images of her and her rumored lover, just to lessen her. Just like how someone today could make a “meme” or political cartoon of one world leader bent over for another. The implications being exactly the same. Dynamics of sex and power haven’t changed one bit.
