Regarding the short story of Aganju and Yemaja from The Penguin Book of Mermaids and how Yamaja death/life is a sacrifice for birthing life and multiple dieties, due to her spreading water on earth. This only occurred from being pushed to the extreme because her son raped her and was chasing her. Yemaja was overcome with fear for her life having to potentially face her son again ,“Then her body immediately began to swell in a fearful manner, two streams of water gushed from her breasts and her abdomen burst open”(169). It plays into a patriarchal role that Yemaja’s death had to occur for life to jumpstart and for the environment to thrive, given that she is “the goddess of brooks and streams, and presides over ordeals by water”(168), she seems to have had all-mighty powers that weren’t used to defend herself. Another factor that embraces a patriarchal side is that Orungan, a male, noticed a clear amount of power imbalance between the two, when alone he felt he had “liberty” of Yemaja’s body without her consent. Takeaway from this story is that when men see a far more powerful woman in their presence, their need to control and tame their uninhibited nature is strong, and make them their subject, which leads to women getting abused and reinforcing gender roles and harmful patriarchal ideas.