Mata Hari, nee Margaretha Geertruida, was considered to be the ultimate femme fatale for much of the 20th century. Making waves as an exotic dancer in the years before the First World War, Mata Hari became known as a seductress of powerful men who used her feminine wiles as a spy for the Germans.Mata Hari
Mata Hari – the Ultimate Femme Fatale Read More »
Of the many shady undertakings committed by Helen Duncan, witchcraft was not one of them. But nonetheless, during the Second World War the Scottish Spiritualist and show-woman was convicted under the 1735 Witchcraft Act. Duncan spent nine months in jail, and was the last person prosecuted in Britain under this legislation.An irony is that Duncan
Helen Duncan and the 1735 Witchcraft Act Read More »
In our theme this week of “women who were famous for something they didn’t do,” I turn to the well-known and macabre story of the alleged death of Catherine the Great of Russia (d. 1796). The incredibly successful monarch had her husband assassinated, suppressed many rebellions, and was a patron of the arts. But she
The Rumor of Catherine the Great’s Death Read More »
You are looking at a rare Medieval illustration of the anatomy of a uterus. It is highly schematic/abstract, obviously, but the important bits for Medieval people were all there. At the top, you see a fetus (the Latin words used were “embryo,” “conceptus,” and “fetus”), and straight below it is the entrance marked “hec eat
Medieval Uterus Anatomy Read More »
We know that women in the Middle Ages wanted to have control over their ability to conceive, and medical texts from these centuries show that while women wanted to know how they could avoid getting pregnant, many were also concerned about infertility. After all, bearing children was considered the central function of women in this
The Trotula Test for Medieval Infertility Read More »
This week we are looking at Medieval birth control. This terrifying object, known as a “chastity belt,” was once thought to have been developed by men during the Middle Ages to lock up their wives or daughters’ genitalia, thereby controlling not just women’s reproduction, but their sexuality. The good news — they were probably mostly
The Fake Creation of Chastity Belts Read More »
You are looking at a page out of the Voynich manuscript, an as-yet untranslated text from the first half of the 15th-century. Shown is an illustration of what may be a type of sage plant. Many types of common herbs were likely taken as a means of birth control in the Middle Ages, but knowledge
Sage as a Contraceptive and Abortificant Read More »
This week, I am teaming up to do a crossover-post series on fashion statements that made history with my friend (and former student) Katie McGowan! (@katiemaecrochet ) Following is her write-up featuring Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s “Dissent” collar.Fashion can be used to express opinions, and no one did that more effectively than the late Supreme Court Justice,
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Her Judicial Collars Read More »
In this third crossover history post on “fashion statements that made history” with Katie McGowan, I feature one of the most famous beards in history, worn by the Pharoh Hatshepsut, which means “foremost of women.” Yep, you read that right: Hatshepsut dressed in drag.Hatshepsut (c. 1503-1482 BCE) had been wedded to the powerful ruler Thutmose
Queen Hatshepsut and Drag Read More »
On our third crossover post in “fashion statements that made history” with myself and Katie McGowan, I am featuring Joan of Arc and her male attire for battle.Jeanne d’Arc, aka “the Maid of Orleans,” was highly conscientious about the way gender played into her self-perception as the military leader chosen by God to lead the
Joan of Arc – “The Maid of Orleans” Read More »
Evolutionary history is the focus of my posts for a while, and what better place to start than CRISPR? Last week, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna’s work in using CRISPR for gene editing made news headlines – this is the first time the Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to two women. The future
CRISPR Gene and The Nobel Prize in Chemistry Read More »
Meet Julia Barlow Platt (1857-1935), who in her 70s was elected as the first female mayor of Pacific Grove, California. She spent her late years galvanizing efforts to create a nature preserve on Monterey Bay, which is still one of the most lovely areas on California’s northern coast. Behind these achievements, however, is a story
Julia Barlow Platt, Embryotic Cells, and California Politics Read More »
This is Marie-Claire King (born 1946), and just reading about her accomplishments makes me tired. Besides earning her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, she has six other honorary doctorates in science from the most prestigious universities in the world. From her work in discovering the genetic foundations of breast cancer, schizophrenia, and hearing loss, to her
Marie-Claire King and Genetic Studies Read More »
Charles Darwin’s idea of Natural Selection as the key driver of evolution has been demonstrated many times over. However, in the century and a half since his lifetime, scientists have added onto his theories as various scientific discoveries have been made. Perhaps no one has reframed the picture of Darwinian evolution as much as the
Lynn Margulis and Eukaryotic Cells Read More »
It’s almost Halloween, dear readers, so you’ll be able to suss out my theme for this week without a hitch. On that note, I cannot believe that I have not yet done a post on Elizabeth Bathory, aka “the Blood Countess”.So here’s her story: born into an aristocratic Hungarian family in 1560, Elizabeth Bathory was
Elizabeth Bathory – “The Blood Countess” Read More »
I don’t know why the central character in this Ancient Greek image is smiling: she is getting stabbed. Maybe because the artist was taking sides with the playwright Aeschylus, who thought Clytemestra deserved to die? Athens in the 5th c BCE was a civilization whose male citizens prided themselves on having a democracy with a
The Ancient Greek Story of Clytemestra Read More »
The Ancient Maya idea of beauty differed radically from our own, as evidence from art and human bones show. Shown here is medical anthropologist Vera Tiesler, who has examined thousands of bones from the Maya Classical Era (250-900 CE) and found fascinating patterns in the practice of skull-shaping.The Maya used stiff boards to flatten their
Ancient Mayan Skull Shaping Read More »
Shown here are Doctors Pear Kendrick and Grace Eldering, and together they developed the first successful vaccine against the childhood disease pertussis, or Whooping Cough.Whooping Cough is of course characterized by the sound of the hollow, forced, and unremitting chest cough that mostly younger people endured until the 20th-century development of a vaccine: it killed
Doctors Pear Kendrick and Grace Eldering Read More »
I hope yunz’ all can appreciate baby-killing demon-goddesses as much as I do. They appear in so many cultures, and explain so much about women’s fears (like being the worst sort of woman — a) one who murdered children and b) hadn’t been able to manage her love affairs with a man in socially-acceptable ways.).
Protection from Lilith in Traditional Jewish History Read More »
Queen Elizabeth I of England (d. 1603) ruled her country for decades through an era of extreme religious strife and against the will of many who thought, as the Protestant leader John Knox, that “It is more than a monstre in nature that a Woman shall reigne and have Empire above a Man . .
Queen Elizabeth I and Her “Queen’s Touch” Read More »
