Galatea's Pants is an internationally distributed underground publication that began in January 2000. It is a political zine devoted to resisting colonization in all its forms, through deliciously subversive creativity. Why the name Galatea's Pants? If you've read up on your Greek mythology, you might know the story of Pygmalion and Galatea. Pygmalion was a misogynist/sculptor, who decided to sculpt the perfect woman to prove that perfection in women was a fantasy. In the process, he fell in love with his creation, as most artists do. Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, granted Pygmalion's wish and turned Galatea, the statue, into a real woman. This story was the basis for George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion and the musical My Fair Lady, as well as countless other books, teen movies and romantic comedies. The "Guy Transforms Nerdy/Ugly/Lower-Class Girl Into a Princess and Thus Brings Her to Life" formula seems inescapable in popular culture.
I have been fascinated with Galatea for several years. She is rather voiceless in the Greek myth, quite literally for a large part of the story. The title imagines what it would be like if Galatea had her own creative outlet, if she shed those itchy togas and donned a pair of pants. Metaphorically, the name is supposed to signify the transition in women from inactive objects to fully human subjects.
More importantly, the zine is about retelling histories. Myths never cease to intrigue me. The title Galatea's Pants reworks an ancient story, exchanging the predictable plot for something wilder. In our daily lives, we are surrounded by myths - about how we are supposed to think, feel, and treat each other, about "how the world is." Progressive politics seek to deconstruct those myths and create a space for alternative stories. My zine focuses on breaking out of your ruts, on inviting your brain to think in a radically new way.