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
What I find very interesting is, we're not enthralled by the ancient world, and we've escaped all kinds of ancient preconceptions and assumptions and prejudices. But, nevertheless, we still make that connection between authoritative speech and male speech.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the persistent biases in gender perception, particularly in authority and communication.
Mary Beard points out a paradox where, despite living in a modern world that has moved beyond ancient prejudices, contemporary society still associates authoritative speech with male voices. This observation invites reflection on how gender roles continue to influence perceptions of credibility and authority in discourse.
Themes
GenderAuthorityCommunicationPrejudiceSociety
In practice
Example use cases
A panel discussion on gender biases in modern communications.
More from Mary Beard
All quotes →I 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
Similar quotes
The new freedom of expression brought by the Internet goes far beyond politics. People relate to each other in new ways, posing questions about how we should respond to people when all that we know about them is what we have learned through a medium that permits all kinds of anonymity and deception.
Peter SingerRead
The world makes us look towards ourselves, our possessions, our desires.The Gospel invites us to be open to others, to share with the poor.
Pope FrancisRead
It's a strange world. Some people get rich and others eat sh** and die.
Hunter S. ThompsonRead
There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are.
Brennan ManningRead
I kept having dreams all night. I thought they were touching me with their fingers. But dreams don't have fingers, they have fists, so it must have been scorpions.
Roberto BolanoRead
To awaken within the dream is our purpose now. When we are awake within the dream, the ego-created earth-drama comes to an end and a more benign and wonderous dream arises.
Eckhart TolleRead