Summary

In the opening Preface to “Women & Power: A Manifesto,” Mary Beard asserts that “women in the West have a lot to celebrate” (ix) for the advances that have occurred in women’s rights over the twentieth century. Using her mother as an example, Beard writes how her mother lived to see Margaret Thatcher become the first female Prime Minister of Britain, and was able to have children while having a successful career. Despite these advances for women, Beard writes that her mother knew that complete gender equality is not a reality: it is still difficult for women to have their voices heard and break into positions of authority. Beard concludes the Preface by suggesting that her goal in these essays is to explore “the mechanisms that silence women” in Western culture, which she will trace back to ancient Greece and Rome.

Beard opens...