Bodies and Power in the Ancient World

Afterlives of Ancient Egypt with Kara Cooney

EPISODE 69 | Here’s an uncomfortable fact: Having a woman’s body allows one to be much more easily controlled and commodified in patriarchal systems. We are watching this play out in real time in a post-Roe America, but what role did the female body play in the ancient world, and more specifically: How did ancient Egyptians negotiate female power in ancient patriarchal systems like ancient Egypt? In this episode Kara discusses her research on this topic with Amber, and her effort to gain a better understanding of how ancient patriarchal societies used body differences to control, commodify, and exploit female bodies.

For more of Kara’s thoughts on some feminist schools of thought and their attitudes toward the female body, read her post from last June:

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