SNP’s word of the day: Luciferina
Word: Luciferina
Meaning: she-devil
Usage: “Knox was a ‘luciferina’—a she-devil—capable of a special, female duplicity.” — from an LA Times opinion piece on “the scapegoating of Amanda Knox”
You should know it because: possessed of an angel’s face, accused of devil’s games, Amanda Knox captured the public’s imagination—albeit a very limited imagination. Knox, to the millions who watched her Perugia trial four years ago and again two days ago, was either an innocent or a seductress; a fresh-faced prep or “a spell-casting witch,” as one attorney said; a victim or a vixen. As though, for girls, especially pretty ones, there is still nothing between.
A little exposition for you rock-dwellers: four years ago, “Foxy Knoxy” and her then-boyfriend were accused of killing her roommate in a sex game gone darkside. Both girls were 21, Knox American, Kercher British, and studying abroad in Perugia, Italy. Now, as you know, Knox is back in Seattle, a free woman; well, free as one can be when half the world thinks you’re guilty. No one will ever know.
What we do know is how little has changed since, say, 1692. Now, as ever, females who don’t conform to archetypes are not to be trusted. The girl’s an A-student from Seattle who also likes sex in Italy? Must be a witch. Knox’s prettiness and attendant confidence seemed to infuriate watchers, making them surer she was guilty. But those same virginal looks, paler and holier-seeming after four years in prison, might’ve saved her in the end. There was massive sympathy for the “she-devil,” as she was so often called in court (made-for-TV-movie producers must be so mad there’s already a feature by that name, starring Meryl Streep). By the end it didn’t seem to matter whether she was guilty. The case came down to what you wanted to believe about a girl.
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[caption id="attachment_58096" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Illustration by Lewis Mirrett"][/caption]
Word: Luciferina
Meaning: she-devil
Usage: “Knox was a 'luciferina'—a she-devil—capable of a special, female duplicity.” — from an LA Times opinion piece on “the scapegoating of Amanda Knox”
You should know it because: possessed of an angel's face, accused of devil's games, Amanda Knox captured the public's imagination—albeit a very limited imagination. Knox, to the millions who watched her Perugia trial four years ago and again two days ago, was either an innocent or a seductress; a fresh-faced prep or “a spell-casting witch,” as one attorney said; a victim or a vixen. As though, for girls, especially pretty ones, there is still nothing between.
A little exposition for you rock-dwellers: four years ago, “Foxy Knoxy” and her then-boyfriend were accused of killing her roommate in a sex game gone darkside. Both girls were 21, Knox American, Kercher British, and studying abroad in Perugia, Italy. Now, as you know, Knox is back in Seattle, a free woman; well, free as one can be when half the world thinks you're guilty. No one will ever know.
What we do know is how little has changed since, say, 1692. Now, as ever, females who don't conform to archetypes are not to be trusted. The girl's an A-student from Seattle who also likes sex in Italy? Must be a witch. Knox's prettiness and attendant confidence seemed to infuriate watchers, making them surer she was guilty. But those same virginal looks, paler and holier-seeming after four years in prison, might've saved her in the end. There was massive sympathy for the “she-devil,” as she was so often called in court (made-for-TV-movie producers must be so mad there's already a feature by that name, starring Meryl Streep). By the end it didn't seem to matter whether she was guilty. The case came down to what you wanted to believe about a girl.){kind=link}