My Goodreads review: Women & Power: A Manifesto

Women & Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a short (novella-length) volume compiled from two lectures the author presented during the London Review of Books Winter Lecture series. It has been enhanced by a number of good illustrations (if you're a Kindle reader, as I am, try it on a tablet for more enjoyment) plus an excellent set of end notes & references.

Beard spends much of the book (both lectures) examining why & how women have been told to shut up -- or expected to shut up, or made to shut up -- in the public sphere. Her argument is based primarily on classical references, and might or might not apply to non-Western cultures. However, it is depressingly effective. The second half of the book extends this argument to recent politics (pre-2016 election) and online situations.

Aside from Beard's suggestion that Athena did not have a mother (she did: the Titan Metis), I had little trouble with her logic. This is a necessarily brief overview of a timely topic -- though at full hardcover price, which is why there are libraries.




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