An Alternative Look at the Amazons' Lore AKA My Ideas of a Rewrite
Or by another name: my rewrite of a jokingly toxic society to one of a incredibly on-purpose toxic society
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An interesting feature of many civil rights cases that go to court is that the activists who pursue legal action usually choose who they think is the most sympathetic or "perfect" victim. In the 1960s and 1970s, some activists chose to fight gender discrimination against women by primarily choosing cases where men were discriminated against. Famously, one of these activists was Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. If you want a specific, lesser-known example of a court case, in Diaz v Pan Am, Pan Am was successfully sued for not allowing men to be flight attendants (it used to just be women).
What does this history lesson have to do with the my take on the lore of the Amazons? Well, I think a great way to make the Amazons an interesting group to focus on in the novels is to present them as a vehicle for flipping the norms of gender discrimination and also ancient civilization. Ancient Athenian society was very patriarchal and hierarchical in general. Having Amazonian society be a replica of Ancient Athenian society, except with the dynamics between men and women flipped, would be a great way to rehash an old civilization in a new light.
It's a way of examining real social issues, by flipping them on their head and thinking "Wait a second. The women are re-enacting a strict patriarchal society?" And not to self-promote once again, but if you contrast this with the way the Hunters are in my re-write of them, it shows alternate ways to critically examine what we view as 'masculine' and 'feminine' tropes and get you thinking about society. It's also a great way to look at illiberal democracy - when you delineate rights, who are you excluding and why? And also corporate culture with the Amazon tie-in - what do you value in society and how far are you willing to go to accomplish your goals/ideals?
As they were written in Heroes of Olympus, the Amazons weren't portrayed as morally good people, but you would have characters like Thalia and Kinzie excuse them. Characters would say that the men that were present in Amazon warehouses were not slaves, but voluntarily subservient. I think the whole concept was written more as a joke than something to be annoyed by. Maybe a way to have powerful women, like the Hunters of Artemis, be present in the books. It also was very prescient to label Amazon as working people to the bone and aiming for world domination, but it was very jokey and surface-level. The Amazons were also later dropped and not really explored as a subject in the series.
My ideas below try to explore this idea of an illiberal society based on Ancient Athens.
On to the rewrite:
Amazon History (blatant copy of real life Amazon but with women)
The Amazons moved from their homeland at the base of the Caucasian Mountains to America in the 1990s. They were tired of living in seclusion and only ruling over the mountain area. After all, there's no challenge or excitement in eternally ruling over a small area that you've known well for hundreds of years. Back in the day, they used to raid other areas of the world, but following the fall of the Byzantine Empire, they made the decision to become more insular.
It doesn't take much persuasion for some Amazons to convince others that a way to combat this boredom and show their inherent dominance is to build a new empire. After all, who wouldn't want to reclaim their former glory? They decide to slowly but surely expand their influence to eventually take over the world and show what the greatest human society truly is.
Why America? For plot, and also because America is the global superpower in the 1990s. While they lived secluded, they were aware all along of the affairs of the human world and all the technological advancements.
In the 90s, computers are taking off. The Amazons see the potential of profitability in the online sector. Their experiences and reading of the world lead them to think that profitability is the way to start their plans of world domination. Becoming filthy rich will enable them to whisper words into the ears of the (for now) powerful and slowly change the world in their favor.
As they were not culturally isolated and knew what was happening in the world around them, they pick up knowledge about computers and the internet very fast. They decide to market books online, as they have seen the evolution of literature and its worldwide demand. It's cheap, and what they know especially well.
The Amazons are part of the Greek world. They know about all the magical items and animals. Thus, along with books for the mortals, they start a service selling items relating to warfare - chariots, swords, etc. Eventually they expand from books and swords to becoming the vast online marketplace they are known as today.
Amazon Government
The Amazons have a democratic type of government. While they do have someone in an executive role (the president, who they refer to as "queen" for traditional purposes), they still practice a mix of direct democracy and representative democracy.
They have ballot measures/propositions to decide important societal rules. They elect representatives from different administrative districts (each warehouse in America is run by an Amazon, each state with a warehouse would be a district) to run the Council. The Council is a bit like the Senate and debates matters and tries to legislate.
Any Amazon woman can vote. Those who were from more historically prestigious families in Amazon society hold more power, and are more likely to secure a leadership position in running a warehouse/being on the Coucil.
Like the Ancient Athenian society itself, the Amazonian society used to be prone to oligarchic tendencies and behavior. As a consequence of this, the Amazons became more inclined to highly favor "productivity" as a way to weed out nepotism. This influences how the warehouses are run, as everyone is focused on being the most "productive" to rise in the ranks and crack down on anyone viewed as not working all the time.
The "Queen" is an elected position with no term limits. They did away with term limits as they view it as a form of stability to have someone there for as long as the people feel confident. The Queen is a guiding role for the people, a sort of state leader who people can look to as the head of the Council, and is more connected to the community. The Queen makes decisions in crunch time.
It's essentially like choosing the president and their cabinet.
There is also an Assembly (a group of people randomly selected) which convenes once a year to commit quality checks and assess leadership capabilities.
There are still ritualistic combat duels that take place. This is mainly for glory and to show off how capable one is. While winning a duel wouldn't guarantee you any position, it makes you a more electable candidate in the eyes of the populace. Someone who can be both physically fit and mentally fit to win a duel.
Amazon Society
When they moved, both the Amazons packed their bags, and so did the Gargareans (an all-male tribe that lived next to the Amazons in Greek myths). The Amazons were a fully-functioning society back in the mountains.
The Gargareans are Amazonian citizens and not slaves. However, they are not allowed to own shares in Amazon, they don't own their houses in America, and they are not in any positions of power within the company of Amazon when they are allowed to work there. In essence, they are citizens who cannot vote.
The men are viewed as less intelligent and capable than the women. They are encouraged to just stay at home and raise children. If they are given permission to work at Amazon, it's to mainly deal with grunt work of lifting heavy equipment as they are considered "unworthy" of intelligent labor.
Some men are more respected by their partners than others. In Amazon society, it is not a requisite to marry, as marriage is not something that matters in their society. The men who are married to Amazon women are thus treated with more respect, as it is viewed as an honor to be seen as someone who has enough value to be a monogamous partner. These men are brought into Amazon political society and given more leeway in how they operate. However, they can never achieve any real position of power as they are not voting citizens. At most, they are more of a political mind in the shadows.
How do the men feel about the system? On the surface level they accept the division of labor. Due to Amazon being part of the Greek mythical world, both the company and the society are able to float by many labor and social laws that would otherwise apply to them due to the Mist. The Amazons have their own education system which reinforces these stereotypes, and their own policing which seeks to put down any "revolutionary" talk. This way of life is also what they know best. They are not absolutely oppressed in chains, but they metaphorically are, and this is the only life they are capable of living. They have little freedom.
However, despite the Amazon's best attempts, some knowledge of the outside world breaks through the various warehouses. The men know there is the possibility of a different kind of life. In addition, the knowledge that their form of government is based on the people but does not include them, stirs up revolutionary beliefs in their hearts.
Amazon Leadership
Bezos doesn't exist. I mainly just don't want to write him in, to be honest. But instead of Bezos, the CEO of Amazon is an Amazon pretending to be a man. Due to the latent discrimination against women in power in modern-day society, the Amazons decide to make their public leaders masquerade as men to advance faster in American society.
There are three positions in the executive branch. One is that of the queen, and the other two are that of the public roles of "CEO" and the "Board of Directors" that mortals see as leading the company. The CEO and Board play more figurehead roles and are on display to the mortal world (like the monarchy in the UK). The queen and the Council/Cabinet (the elected one) do not have to play a figurehead-type role so that they can devote more of their energy to the company's dominance.
This masquerade in public increases their dislike of men having control in their society. It gives them a chip on their shoulder that men have so much political, corporate, and societal control in the mortal world. They don't want to afford the men any opportunity to seize control and they decide to tighten the reigns they have over men.
Conflict Points
The tension of if the men will revolt for a more equal society
The tension of oligarchic elements in the "corporate democracy"
The tension of Amazon trying to take over the world and influence American politics
The tension of over reliance on productivity as the thing to value most in society; value profit gained from inhumane behavior
The "queen" having no term limits v someone challenging the queen
Those who favor a more militaristic society being upset at the prospect they've been trying to take over the world in a nerdy business way. Who wants to be cutthroat against bookstore owners and not, you know, literally cutthroat?
Final Thoughts
I'm self-aware that this post is pretty convoluted haha. Writing the outline of a self-functioning society is not my strong suit. But hopefully it gave some food for thought.
Ok so remembering the pjo amazons really has got me thinking about them and their whole operation again, like I know when son of neptune was written amazon, while very notable, wasn't the nightmare megacorp its primarily known as today so obviously Rick wasn't giving it that much thought, but like, how the fuck does amazon the corporation work in the pjoverse? does jeff bezos even exist? is he a mist construct? is he a puppet? like in the literal sense? like every time he's in an interview or making an announcement there has to be a desk of podium in front of him because right behind that is Hylla and some other amazon operating him like he's the swedish chef from the muppets? and nobody notices because of the mist? to further the Henson connection, is he some kind of creature shop-esque animatronic? Is he remote controlled by Hylla like an rc car? These are the real questions I now have and I'm almost dead certain that they will never be answered
