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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1968 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 23, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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In this case surely Britannia would be the canonical example?

As an interesting aside, both the US (Uncle Sam) and the UK (John Bull) have male personifications as well as the female ones, which most countries don't.

Also, can Americans on this board comment on the relative visibility of Columbia and Lady Liberty as female personifications of the US - the America that is presented to the rest of the world uses Lady Liberty a lot more, to the point that the Columbia who appears onscreen in the opening credits of a Columbia Pictures movie looks more like Lady Liberty than traditional portrayals of Columbia.

I noted also at Communion this morning that the Church is (rhetorically) described as Jesus' bride, which strikes me as a weird example of the same thing.

It seems quite different to me - the Church as Bride of Christ is portrayed as in a subordinate relationship to a male figure, whereas Britannia, Columbia, Lady Liberty, Marianne etc. are generally portrayed as powerful in their own right with no man in the picture. Both Britannia and Lady Liberty are usually portrayed as, in effect, reigning queens while Columbia and Marianne are portrayed as successful rebel leaders. Obviously all of this is downstream of the thoroughly pagan portrayal of Athena as patron goddess of Athens, including the statue in the Parthenon.

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