nothing more than the loss of control over women.“ – Mary Daly in „Gyn/Ökologie“ 1981 The Russian Empress Catherine II deliberately staged herself and her position in her own country as an enlightened, righteous [...] pictorial propaganda of her reign made use of mythological allusions, such as the depiction of the empress as the goddess Athena/Minerva – as a clever and strategic war leader, she brings peace and protects [...] Catherine's dealings with men who, as her favorites, had the closest, including sexual, contact with the empress. She was accused of having “too” great a sexual appetite, which led to persistent misogynistic criticism
