Kara Cooney’s presentation was part of Toledo Museum of Art’s national Geographic Live series. She is a compelling speaker, and I was enthralled by her description of women who indeed ruled their world, ancient Egypt. I was even more fascinated by her analysis of why we (yes, we) have such a hard time with women in positions of leadership. Can you see the slide above? Cooney summarizes by suggesting that fear of women’s emotionality has been a major reason for our powerlessness.
So many things to think about. Cooney points out that even when women are in positions of leadership, we still “serve the patriarchy” and protect the status quo. And when we stop doing that, we are eliminated from leadership. This resonates with me and largely matches my own experience.
I’ll be reading Cooney’s book, When Women Ruled the World, and I expect to learn more, but honestly what I want is the chance to talk with other women about these ideas. Who’s in?