The Ancient Romans atttibuted the Goddess Vesta with the power to keep Rome safe and prosperous, and they conceived of these qualities with the symbols of fire, penises, and female chastity. Vesta’s ancient temple (third slide) in the city of Rome had sacred fires, tended to by full-time priestesses whose ritual care preserved the integrity […]
Ancient Roman Goddess Vesta and the Temple Servants Read More »
Happy St. Lucy’s Day! Would you like to celebrate by meditating on gouged-out eyeballs? In a tradition stemming from the Middle Ages, saints who had been martyred were frequently shown in artwork with either the instrument of death (Lucy was also stabbed — see the knife?), or the body parts in their story recieving the
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This is one of the most famous pharaohs from Ancient Egypt: Hatshepsut (d. 1458 BCE). She was highly effective in all arenas — economic, foreign policy, religious affairs — but although those who lived under her rule recognized her authority, having a female ruler (even a super talented one) jarred too much with expectations about
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Here is a rare painting of Frau Minne, the Goddess-Allegory of Love popular among German-speaking Europeans in the Middle Ages. Her actions radically contradict the ways we often think women were expected to behave: Minne is forceful and violent, and she is always victorious. Here in this 14th-century coffer she is about to pierce the
Frau Minnie – The Allegory of Love Read More »
Parents of kids besotted by the Disney channel might roll their eyes at how successfully the movies have mesmerized their children. But the practice of telling fanciful stories featuring youths who must navigate magic and non-human creatures is quite old. The genre owes its name, _Les Contes des Fees_, “Fairy Tales” to one Madame d’Aulnoy,
Madame d’Aulnoy’s Fairytales Read More »
Hawai’i has generated many amazing things, but the trifecta of women featured here are superlative and worth knowing about. Alice Ball (d. 1916) is a scientist who created a way to end the suffering of people with Hanson’s disease — a.k.a leprosy. Published in a chemical journal during her undergraduate years, Ball went on to
Strong Women of Hawai’i Read More »
I would like to introduce one of “my” Medieval research area queens: Urraca, ruler of much of Spain from 1109-1126. I like her for many reasons, but one of my favorite things about Urraca was her tenacity. She really steered an unlikely trajectory, and kept reasserting her own life’s ambitions despite the ways her plans
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These shapely flowers come from one of the most peculiar texts from the late 19th-century Western world. _Geometrical Psychology, or the Science of Representation_, by Louisa S. Cook, smashes together mathematics, evolution/eugenics, Vedanta Hinduism, and Spiritualism. Shakespeare is also in there too, for good measure. Cook’s aim was as ambitious as physicists today who are
Grand Unified Theory Read More »
Ada Lovelace (d. 1852) lived a supremely Victorian aristocratic life: multiple estates, famous friends, and noble title? :check. Tragic illnesses that caused her to be bedridden and/or die young? : check. Relatives concerned with her propriety despite having an adventurous and spirited personality? : also, check. Called “The Enchantress of Number” by her friend and
Ada Lovelace – “The Enchantress of Numbers” Read More »
Scientists are enabling us to save lives and hopefully prevent disaster in this COVID-19 pandemic — and coming up with big solutions to health problems is one of the main reasons their profession is so valuable. But for me there is another equally praiseworthy aspect: their contributions to unveiling the forces that shape our universe.
The First-Lady of Physics – Chien-Shiung Wu Read More »
This is the only depiction of Joan of Arc created in her own lifetime, and is a doodle out of the imagination of the illustrator made in 1429. In many ways — especially in her religious fervor and because she thought most women ought to behave conventionally — I find Joan’s personality grating. But the
Era Accurate Depiction of Joan of Arc Read More »
In this time of necessary lockdown, we pine for our horizons to be wider than they are now. Well might we receive the tale of Jeanne Baret (1740-1807), a woman with more chutzpah, curiosity, and mad resourcefulness than most of us can ever possess.Born a poor peasant in southern France, Jeanne finagled her way onto
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Here lies the effigy of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine at Fontevraud Abbey. If Queen Eleanor were a Dungeons and Dragons character, she’d be like level fifty. At an imaginary dinner table of bad-ass women in history, Eleanor would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Cleopatra of Egypt, the Empress Irene of Byzantium, and Catherine the
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In Frank Herbert’s sci-fi _Dune_ series, the Bene Gesserit are amazing space-witches who have developed such mental control over their unconscious physiology that their powers seem superhuman. But Herbert’s ideas weren’t merely fiction: the person you see here is not a space witch, but she did figure out a technique of controlling elements of human
Patricia Cowings and the Autogenic-Feedback Training Exercise Read More »
This is Lucy Wills, a woman lucky enough to possess the resources to do as she pleased. She travelled throughout her life, never married and maintained many long-lasting friendships, and kept up a lifetime of rigorous scientific study — she utilized all these characteristics to develop research that led to the saving of many people’s
Lucy Wills and Marmite Read More »
Ah, how to frame the life of Qiu Jin, the feminist martial artist who was beheaded by the last Chinese dynastic government for insurrection in 1907? I think this quote by Jack London best captures her spirit: “I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a
Feminist Martial Artist Qiu Jin Read More »
This week, I’m looking at neglected women philosophers in history. This one featured here walked around naked and wrote poetry. You know, as one does.I introduce to you one Akka Mahadevi, who lived in southern India in the 12th century and was part of a religious movement called “Lingayatism.” This sect of Hinduism focused on
Akka Mahadevi and Lingayatism Read More »
Meet Aspasia of Miletus (d. about 400 BCE), a philosopher whose life illustrates that no matter how important and interesting a person’s ideas are, if no one records them, their impact fades. Certainly the most important female philosopher from the Ancient Greek past, Aspasia’s actual intellectual contributions are unknown to us. What we know is
Ancient Romans Aspasia of Miletus Read More »
I extend this woman a formal invitation to my imaginary dinner party of Fascinating People I Want to Talk to. Here is Susanne Langer, and she is one of the most famous women philosophers in modern American history.I know: it’s a small club. But that shouldn’t detract from Langer’s accomplishments. Born in New York to
Susanne Langer – Art in Human Cognition Read More »
Ever hear of the philosophical puzzle called “the trolley problem”? It’s a famous way to make you realize that your instincts might not match up with your ideas about morality. Namely, most people would elect to throw a trolley switch that would take it off its course if it would kill only one person instead
Philippa Foot and “The Trolley Problem” Read More »
