Mary Beard on Women and Power in Western Culture

This week we explore the ways Western culture has depicted powerful women down the ages. To what extent have they been packaged into a male template? And how much have they been able to control their own image? Featuring classicist Mary Beard and Sotheby’s specialist Holly Braine, and chaired by cultural critic Shahidha Bari, the conversation will range from sculptures of ancient goddesses such as Aphrodite and Athena, and portraits of Queen Elizabeth I as ‘Gloriana’, to the empowered politicians and cultural icons of today. This conversation was produced in partnership with Sotheby's for Sotheby’s Talks: (Women) Artists. To view the accompanying images for this conversation please visit: https://intelligencesquared.com/sothebys-women-artists-women-in-power/ This event was recorded on the 26th of February 2023, at Sotheby's in London. It was produced by Executive Producer Hannah Kaye and editing was by Producer Catharine Hughs. — We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be about. Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to [email protected] or Tweet us at @intelligence2.  At Intelligence Squared we’ve got our own online streaming platform, Intelligence Squared+ and we’d love you to give it a go. It’s packed with more than 20 years’ worth of video debates and conversations on the world’s most important topics as well as exclusive podcast content. Tune in to live events, ask your questions or watch on-demand, totally ad-free with hours of discussion to dive into. Visit intelligencesquaredplus.com to start watching today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices