Women & Power: A Manifesto

Mary Beard is a professor of Classics at Cambridge and the author of SPQR, the popular, critically-acclaimed and highly readable history of ancient Rome. So, what might she bring to the discussion of women and power, you might ask?

This small, powerful book contains two essays, rewrites from two lectures Beard gave. "The Public Voice of Women" discusses the ancient cultural underpinnings of how we see women & public speaking. She references classical literature, Shakespeare, even a bit of Henry James. And she begins with the first recorded example of a man telling a woman to "shut up."

The second essay/lecture "Women in Power" takes a look at women at just that, referencing everything from [Herland] by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and the show more ancient Greek idioms still used to represent "the idea of women in, and out of, power." She discusses Margaret Thatcher handbag and Teresa May's "shoe thing" and how those things work to defy being packaged into a male template of power.

Beard suggests that rather than the fitting into the status quo that "...if women are not perceived to be fully within the structures of power, surely it is power that we need to redefine rather than women?" Chew on that.

This book was a holiday gift from the hubby, an excellent choice. I've read a fair number of feminist manifestos of one kind or another, and I found this small entry into the canon—Beard's perspective—to be powerful and enlightening, and an excellent read. show less

Two essays, delivered as lectures and somewhat refashioned for the print form, still have some of the momentum of the spoken word. Beard offers no solutions only directions in which to move our awareness and our thinking. In the first essay she outlines the Greek and Roman narratives--in literature and histories--and the ways that women are traditionally silenced, either by ridicule, by being ignored, or by, in some cases, having their tongues cut right out of their mouths. In our political culture, oratory is still the province of men. The deep, sonorous voice is preferred. Think of it the way you might imagine that a blue potato tastes 'different' from a white potato. We simply do not have any idea how deeply our prejudices against show more hearing and respecting the voices of women go--starting with a visceral response to women's voices especially when speaking outside of the domain assigned to them (protecting the family, women's issues, women's literature) etc. Beard guides the discussion towards the fact that this realization must come first, with awareness comes the possibility to take the next step.

In the second essay, Beard is less directly focussed on the past but rather on how the media (including the internet) use the imagery of the ancient western eras to portray women who have achieved positions of political power--usually negatively. She shows how some women have used female symbols creatively and, yeah, powerfully -- Maggie Thatcher and her handbag (Queen Elizabeth has also been a valiant handbag wielder -- apparently with nothing but a hankie and a few mints in it since she has no need to carry ID or money!). Beard took the time to analyze, for example, how often women who speak in public are described as shrill and whiney as well as how a woman politician who makes a mistake is vilified more strongly than a man who makes an equivalent mistake (or, um, like thousands that are far worse?). Again Beard can offer no solutions, only ideas for directions in which to move our thinking on these matters. A quick read, worth reading. ****1/2 show less

Mary Beard is absolutely brilliant in these two lectures, The Public Voice Of Women delivered in 2014 and Women in Power delivered in 2017. In her academician’s voice she traces the dominant voice of men and the suppression of that of women in the public sphere, citing examples from Greek and Roman literature, her specialty. There are a few more modern literature references, as well as the perception of women’s voices in today’s media. She chronicles her own experience of abusive reaction to her writing, the silencing of Elizabeth Warren in the US Senate and the treatment of prominent world leaders such as Theresa May and Hillary Clinton, citing them as examples that we need to think differently about the structure of power:

We show more have to be more reflective about what power is, what it is for, and how it is measured. To put it another way, if women are not perceived to be fully within the structures of power, surely it is power that we need to redefine rather than women?

Start a conversation; discuss it with your friends. This is a manifesto. Beard doesn’t claim to have a solution. But has carefully laid out the case for one. show less

These two short lectures are adapted into essays discussing the silencing of women and the separation of women from power. Beard uses her extensive knowledge of Greek and Roman culture to explore the earliest roots of misogyny and shows how these earliest ideas are sadly still a part of our culture. These essays are smart, clear, calm, and to-the-point. Definitely recommended.

You wouldn't think that a middle-aged classicist would attract the attention of the internet trolldom. You would be wrong. By appearing on television classical historian Mary Beard, of Cambridge University, managed to garner all sorts of attacks on her appearance, personality, sexuality and general right to be a public person. I mean how dare she expose an unwitting public to grey hair, a visibly middle-aged face and a lack of any effort toward sex appeal. Being an intellectual, her reaction was to think about the origins of these attitudes--the idea that women should keep quiet and never challenge men and generally not be a public presence except in a decorative manner. Not surprisingly, Beard finds examples of "sit down and shut up, show more woman" in our earliest literature. Interesting and well written. show less

There are few books like this anymore. We're used to long scholarly treatises and we're used to little soundbites that say everything and almost nothing at all.

What we've been missing is a call to arms. That's what a manifesto is. A mixed mission statement and an outrage. A rallying call and a hot pinprick of a single idea meant to sear itself into your brain.

That's what a manifesto is supposed to be. A wake-up call.


But what is this one in particular?

It's about the nature of power and misogyny, first cutting through the crap of old Greece through her quality scholarship and then directly applying the topic to our modern world. I can be boiled down to the Voice of Authority. If you don't have a lower register, you're told to shut up.

This show more isn't a joke, although it is furiously funny. It's no laughing matter, but many women and more men than you might think have gone crazy with the absolute absurdity of it.

But there you have it.

Sit down, shut up, bear with the assholes, bide your time, work within the system, tell yourself that one day the glass ceiling might be shattered, and eventually give up, frustrated, disheartened, and disillusioned.

Or postulate: "If the power game is rigged, then it's not women who need to change in order to get power. It's the nature of power that needs to be changed."

But what is power? Ah, well, that's the trick, isn't it?

IT IS WHAT WE DREAM UP. It's words. It's our decision to make. All of us. We can bow down to the almighty lower register or we could start listening to what ALL our smart PEOPLE have to say. Use logic. Reason. Clarity.

It's worth thinking about.

I'm a feminist. I'm also a man. It's freaking RATIONAL to be this. I'm not playing a Us vs Them game because it only leads to further cutting. The only way through this mess is TOGETHER.

So do I appreciate this manifesto?

Hell, yes.


And I part with you on a high note. A little Laurie Anderson that makes me laugh until I cry. Mach 20, yo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SirOxIeuNDE show less

"When it comes to silencing women, Wester civilization has had thousands of years of practice," writes Beard in the preface to her brief and brilliant book.

Because I live and work in settings that feel safe, places where my voice matters and finds respectful listeners, reading Beard's thoughtfully researched essays with images inspired by mythic stories gave me a quick reality check.

"...women, even when they are not silenced, still have to pay a high price for being heard..." What price? Everything from mansplaining to being called stupid and much worse. I don't have trolls calling me *unt or whore on social media, but such harangues happen countless times every day to thousands of people. Not for what they have said, but because they show more said anything while being female.

With millennia of this patterned behavior, the #metoo and #timesup movements are not only important, one wonders why they took so long to get started. show less