Male vs. Female Power

In virtually all of the representations of male-female sexual interaction, in these posters there is an asymmetrical relationship between sex and power. This asymmetry is most explicit when there is the threat of inversion, as in the previous poster: when the paradigm of male power is subverted by female sexuality - which means female power. The hero may be virile, but the great threat is the sexual female. "It’s beyond belief! The fabulous spectacular of the legendary warrior who conquers man and beast … and now the temptation of a seductive treacherous woman!" And on the right, the "captive women" bound and on her knees is the very image of submission - and, given her placement, of sexual submission, but the threat is that the roles will be reversed: "What weird sadistic ritual was the secret of these women?" "Could she subdue this giant of a man with her sorcery?" While the strong man defeats monsters he is (at least temporarily) defeated by the sexual female. This is, of course, a cliché that has a first-rate Classical and Biblical pedigree in the figures of Circe, Omphale, Medea and Delilah.