Women & Power: A Manifesto
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
New York Times Bestseller
One of the Guardian's "100 Best Books of the 21st Century" — "A modern feminist classic."
From the internationally acclaimed classicist and New York Times best-selling author comes this timely manifesto on women and power.
At long last, Mary Beard addresses in one brave book the misogynists and trolls who mercilessly attack and demean women the world over, including, very often, Mary herself. In Women & Power, she traces the origins of this misogyny to its ancient roots, examining the pitfalls of gender and the ways that history has mistreated strong women since time immemorial. As far back as Homer’s Odyssey, Beard shows, women have been prohibited from leadership roles in civic life, public speech being defined as inherently male. From Medusa to Philomela (whose tongue was cut out), from Hillary Clinton to Elizabeth Warren (who was told to sit down), Beard draws illuminating parallels between our cultural assumptions about women’s relationship to power—and how powerful women provide a necessary example for all women who must resist being vacuumed into a male template. With personal reflections on her own online experiences with sexism, Beard asks: If women aren’t perceived to be within the structure of power, isn’t it power itself we need to redefine? And how many more centuries should we be expected to wait?
Customer Reviews
Not good
She gives a brief summary of how women were oppressed in history. This was factual and enlightening. However, she tries to make in seem like this apply today when simply, they don’t. Men aren’t trying to suppress women voices today, that’s ridiculous. The author makes claims that she cannot substantiate such as women speaking in the public sector is an exception rather than the rule. If you look anywhere on TV you will see women everywhere giving their opinions, hosting shows, writing books, being powerful leads in movies, etc. and the FAR FAR majority of men have no problems at all with this. It blames sexism on thing that obviously aren’t, but she is so blinded by hatred she can’t see that. Don’t waste your money.