Women & Power: A Manifesto

Reviews

KL.Caley

👓 I wouldn’t say I agreed with every concept approached in this book, however, like all good books, it was certainly thought-provoking. Fantastic!

Michele Thomas

It explores the male authority within the western culture from multiple historic viewpoints, Greek, Roman, it even has a quick look at Queen Elizabeth the first and her most famous words "I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too" or were they? Beard’s arguments are very compelling. Short but to the point.

🗣 I often think it’s useful to see an extract of a book to get an idea of the writing style. ✍️ The book is based on two lectures previously given by Mary Beard.

It also stayed with me for quite some time after reading. Part of the joke was that women couldn’t speak properly in public – or rather, they couldn’t adapt their private speech (which in this case was largely fixated on sex) to the lofty idiom of male politics. 💥💥💥💥💥💥

Here is a brief extract so that you can see a sample of the writing yourself:In the early fourth century BC, for example, Aristophanes devoted a whole comedy to the ‘hilarious’ fantasy that women might take over running the state. I had never heard of Mary Beard prior to it and it was just the concept and the initial pages which pulled me in but I must say it was an enjoyable read and I felt quite empowered after reading it. 📖 I picked this book up at the airport on the way to a holiday.