Define Gender: Heresy

For the latest episode of our new series exploring the role gender plays in our lives, New York-based director Marlene Marino teamed up with actor and filmmaker Rose McGowan for an homage to French military hero and saint Joan of Arc, who was burned at the stake as a heretic. Here, Marino talks about the collaboration:
　　“Coming from a Roman Catholic upbringing I react to its iconography. Religion was the seat of the patriarchy. It snuffed out the Sacred Feminine purposefully misidentifying Mary Magdalene as a prostitute because she was somehow inconvenient to those in power and the same could be said for Joan of Arc.
　　“Rose and I wanted to explore gender as it relates to heresy and the accusations against women who are different from those around them”
　　“Rose was born into the Catholic cult the Children of God, her father led the Italian chapter. This, coupled with her outspoken nature and self-assuredness, informed the idea of heresy. Joan was charged with cross-dressing, the only thing that they could pin on her, only done to avoid being molested in prison and on the battlefield.
　　“Rose and I wanted to explore gender as it relates to heresy and the accusations against women who are different from those around them. It’s as though it’s fine to say that you are different, but to actually live the difference is more complex. The potential for pain and alienation is real.”