The war in Iraq has brought out strong opinions on both sides, some claiming that it is necessary and serves to buttress freedom, others claiming that war is always wrong and the war should be terminated. Howard Troxler, columnist for the St. Petersburg Times, points out in his article ôA certain discomfort could weaken manÆs desire to wage warö that AristophanesÆ play ôLysistrataö has enjoyed a comeback with regard to anti-war strategies in our day. ôLysistrataö was about a humorous plot by the women of Athens and Spartaùled by the protagonist Lysistrataùto persuade their men to stop fighting in a seemingly endless war. Their strategy was to primp and preen but deny all sexual favors to their men until the war stopped. In the play, this tactic worked. Troxler suggests that since todayÆs men are not all pro-war and todayÆs women are not all anti-war, LysistrataÆs exact prescription for stopping war might need to be amended for today by having all the anti-war people hold out against all the pro-war people. This is precisely what the Lysistrata Project is hoping to accomplish. Groups in more than 800 cities in 50 nations around the world are staging public readings of ôLysistrata.ö As Troxler sums up the success of this effort, ôThey did little more than e-mail all their friends and put up a Web site (www.lysistrataproject.com). Their idea caught fire around the worldö (2003).
What LysistrataÆs strategy was essentially predicated on was a form of mass protest where the protesters held some of the cards. Similar types of mass protest for protesting war can be effective today in the form of work stoppages and strikes. Jeff Mackler in his article ôStrategy and Tactics in the New Anti-War Movementö borrows the mass protest idea and further urges that a united front is critical to the success of any mass protest. Noting that the strength in numbers of a protest is an important element i
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