History is how we have learnt to think about ourselves. It's not as though the Greeks and Romans are static entities out there to be discovered and translated. We make them speak, we talk to them, and they inform what we say.
Mary BeardRead
It wasn't until I got to Cambridge that I discovered active discrimination against women.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the realization of systemic discrimination faced by women in society.
Mary Beard's observation at Cambridge serves as a poignant reminder of the existence of gender discrimination that often goes unnoticed or unspoken. Her experience underscores the importance of awareness and acknowledgment of societal biases, particularly in academic and professional environments where such discrimination can be subtly embedded in culture and practices. It challenges individuals to reflect on their own environments and consider the less visible forms of inequality that persist.
Themes
DiscriminationWomenAwarenessInequalitySociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a talk about women's rights, you can reference this quote to highlight ongoing gender discrimination.
More from Mary Beard
All quotes βI don't think that we are completely dominated by what we have inherited from the past, but it is the case that as far back as you can go - just to Homer, but also to the literature of Rome, the literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance - what you will find is that women's voices are not taken seriously.
Mary BeardRead
What politicians do is they never get the rhetoric wrong, and the price they pay is they don't speak the truth as they see it. Now, I will speak truth as I see it, and sometimes I don't get the rhetoric right. I think that's a fair trade-off.
Mary BeardRead
I'd quite like to be in Caligula's court - living in the back room somewhere and just being able to observe.
Mary BeardRead
Whatever you say about popular culture, people like people who know things, who are experts, and it doesn't particularly matter what they look like.
Mary BeardRead
There is no way, absolutely no way, that I would want people to stop reading the 'Odyssey.' But I want them to read it with their eyes open. To notice it and then to think what it says about us.
Mary BeardRead
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