Women and Power: A Manifesto

How deeply are the mechanisms that deprive women of a voice in the public sphere, deny them serious consideration, and cut them off from the possibility of being in power embedded in Western culture? Looking back at the long history of the Western tradition of excluding women from public and political life - from Antiquity to the present day - renowned historian, Cambridge University professor Mary Beard raises a number of questions: what is the cultural background of sexism in politics, what forms does it take? How have Western societies come to view women who possess power or strive for it? The search for answers to these questions aims to finally help overcome the centuries-old inequality that women around the world continue to suffer from. According to the author, if women are disconnected from the existing power institutions, perhaps we should reconsider our very understanding of power.