In this popular version the Medusa is a monster with hair of a thousand snakes. She is under a curse which causes everything she looks at to turn to stone. Cixous explains that this monstrous image of the Medusa exists only because it has been directly determined by the male gaze.
In Greek mythology, the dreaded monster Medusa was half woman and half serpent. Even the bravest warriors were no match for her. It is said that she was so nasty that just one look at her and her hair full of deadly snakes would turn any mortal into stone.