Off With Her Head: Three Thousand Years of Demonizing Women in Power

About This Book

Best-selling author Eleanor Herman returns with an important work exploring the history of misogyny against women with power, from Cleopatra to Kamala Harris. Imagine Donald Trump as a woman, called Donna. Would Donna Trump have been viewed as blunt, honest, and refreshing? Would she have won the election? Imagine Hillary Clinton as a man. Harry Clinton says and does the same things as Hillary. Would Harry Clinton have been portrayed in a thousand images as a witch on a broomstick or called a bitch on countless T-shirts? Would his thoughtful, circumspect answers to media questions have been seen as inauthentic, secretive, and untrustworthy? A particular kind of rage is usually reserved for women, especially women in power or those vying for it. From the ancient world to the European Renaissance up to the most recent U.S. elections, the "Misogynist's Handbook," as Eleanor Herman calls it, has been wielded to put uppity women in their place, sometimes to deadly effect. Herman writes with wit and humor while also presenting a story that is shocking, eye-opening, and a powerful force for change. She explains the patterns that have been operating for more than three thousand years against powerful women across the globe, including Cleopatra, Anne Boleyn, Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and more. While analyzing each tried-and-true misogynistic method to keep women down in chapters with titles like "Why Doesn't She Do Something About Her Hair?" and "The Alarming Shrillness of Her Voice," Herman shows why society needs to rip up the Misogynist's Handbook and pave a way forward for women to take their full and fair place in power once and for all.

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