
Throughout history literature has shown the world how to silence women. I quote from Goodreads:
“{Beard} 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…”
My compassionate ponderings:
• To gain power, the best we can do is act like a man. But that doesn’t get us far.
• Maybe power doesn’t lie in government or boardrooms.
• Consider Beard’s question: “If women aren’t perceived to be within the structure of power, isn’t it power itself we need to redefine?”
• I wondering if the big power shift might be in the anti-gun movement. Women, and let’s include students, know that the ultimate power lies in love.