Books: Women and Power - Mary Beard

[cybermule]

 Bookclub read. Also a library loan.

 

Tis a good book, based on two lectures by Mary Beard explaining how our modern attitudes to women and power were deeply rooted in the classics, and hence passed through posh people into positions of power ad infinitum. I paraphrase. It's interesting but to me and mine it wouldn't be particularly new. The ideas of difference between power and celebrity were interesting. And I actually did have privilege enough to grow up with plenty of classics education so I may be a poor judge of how useful it would be. I'm not sure of its audience, though?

Anyway, it would be a good thing for teens to read as part of critical thinking or classics courses.

Comments

[janey_m]

Me! I'm the audience! Mary Beard is brilliant!

[inulro]

I loved it too - even re-read it for book club and then couldn't make it. But I'd already seen the lectures it was based upon, and not a lot of it was news to me either, so I was also wondering about its target audience.

I think its brevity means a lot of the choir are willing to be preached to for 45 minutes. Although I bought it on Kindle, the hardcover is a lovely package that would make a great gift.

[cybermule]

I would love to go and see her speak, I must say. I'm just not sure who the book of the essay would be for, other than people who already knew of her.

[cybermule]

I may well buy it for my aunt for Christmas.