"A modern feminist classic."—The Guardian
From the internationally acclaimed classicist and New York Times best-selling author comes this timely manifesto on women and power.
Now an international bestseller. In stores December 12.
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“[A] sparkling and forceful manifesto…The book is a straight shot of adrenaline, animated less by lament than impatience and quick wit…It’s a tonic to encounter a book that doesn’t just describe the scale of a problem but suggests remedies—and exciting ones at that.”
—Parul Sehgal, New York Times
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?
Praise for Women & Power
“Troll slayer.”
- The New Yorker
“Battling back her antagonists, [Beard has become] something of a folk hero.”
- New York Times
“What she says is always powerful and interesting.”
- The Guardian
“A Cambridge professor and a television lecturer of irresistible salty charm.”
- New York Times Book Review
“An irrepressible enthusiast with a refreshing disregard for convention.”
- Financial Times
Check out reader reviews on Goodreads.
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