Our discussion of Mary Beard‘s book Women & Power: A Manifesto took place on 18 January 2023.

This very short book by a noted classical historian is an extended essay on the ancient roots of modern patriarchy. It opens up the classical past in interesting ways while avoiding specialist language or obscure sources.


As Alf mentioned in the meeting, it offers a chance to step back and take a broad view of patriarchy, as opposed to the technicalities that you can get embroiled in when analysing the workings of modern misogyny.


Beard’s book is in two parts. The first gives examples of misogyny in classical literature, notably the association of power with male speech and the consequent silencing of women. She takes her cue from a scene near the beginning of Homer’s Odyssey, where Telemachus, son of the absent Odysseus, reprimands his mother for daring to speak out of turn, and thereby asserts his role as ‘male leader’.


Beard also talks about how ancient writers depict the sound of female voices as jarring and unwelcome when related to men’s business and provides first-hand testimony of how this attitude continues into modern times, from her experience of being abused online for talking about her own specialist subject of Roman history. David was reminded of the modern example of football commentator Alex Scott, who has received abuse, focused on the sound of her voice, for daring to speak about men’s football rather than women’s – as if the men’s version was some kind of sacred mystery with totally different rules and tactics.


Beard also questions a certain kind of feminist view of the classical past, whereby some female characters are seen as exciting examples of empowerment and the defiance of male authority. She argues for example that the Amazons were not genuine women warriors, but rather expressions of men’s anxieties about women getting out of control; likewise, women in Greek comedies who briefly take over the government, or who stage a sex strike to stop the men from fighting a war.


Another seemingly strong female warrior is the goddess Athena, however Beard points out that this goddess is in many ways an anti-female figure, starting with the fact she was born from the head of Zeus rather than a woman’s womb, to the decapitated head of Medusa displayed on her breastplate.
David suggested that this negative view of women was pretty universal in mythology, however Ben pointed to alternative traditions such as those of Native American culture that feature overmighty males being mocked and brought down by women. Ben and Evan both suggested readings on this subject which might feature in future book club events.
Beard asks an important question towards the end of the first part of the book, namely: “How can we make ourselves more aware about the processes and prejudices that make us not listen to her [i.e. women]?”.


This question seems particularly pertinent for us as men, who are brought up being told that we are the rightful holders of truth and power when it comes to speech.
Beard also makes an excellent point with regards to women’s rights when she speaks about “The right to be wrong” (p. 96). It seems that this is a right that is often overlooked, yet quite crucial. Because if women do not have the right to be wrong they will not be given the same level of forgiveness as men and any ‘misstep’ will disempower them even more.


The group generally agreed with Björn’s view that the second part of the book, which looks at the treatment of women who hold positions of power, is less successful than the first. Beard talks about how these women are constrained to behave in ways that reinforce typically male values, down to the ubiquitous “pants suit” of Hilary Clinton and Kamala Harris. She suggests that women need to find power outside the existing political structures, but the only examples she gives are Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, the (largely invisible) female leadership behind the Black Lives Matter movement. The revival of radical feminism in reaction to the rise of ‘gender identity’ and the various campaign groups that have appeared as a result might have been a better example. But Beard like so many feminist intellectuals has kept her head down with regards to that debate. This is perhaps not surprising, considering the rape and death threats she has received merely for talking about the history of the Roman Empire.