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Feminisms

Jezebel

Jezebel was a much-maligned woman, but Dane Gordon wonders if she really deserved such a bad name.

Jezebel is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary. It is not a complimentary definition: “Name of the infamous wife of Ahab, King of Israel, hence, a wicked abandoned woman, or a woman who paints her face.” Webster’s Dictionary states that Jezebel introduced Baal worship, which she didn’t, persecuted Elijah, instigated the murder of Naboth, and made her name a term of reproach, hence, a wicked or bold woman. Roget’s Thesaurus includes her with such opprobrious substantives as tart, strumpet, harlot, whore, trollop, trull, harridan and slut. The tradition continues.

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