“In February, Mary Beard, a classics professor at the University of Cambridge, gave a lecture at the British Museum titled ‘Oh Do Shut Up Dear!’ With amiable indignation, she explored the many ways that men have silenced outspoken women since the days of the ancients. . . . Beard, in her unapologetic braininess, is a role model for women of all ages who want an intellectually satisfying life. . . . But in recent years, and somewhat to her surprise, Beard has found herself cast in the very public role of a feminist heroine. Through her television appearances, she has become an avatar for middle-aged and older women, who appreciate her unwillingness to fend off the visible advancement of age. Beard does not wear makeup and she doesn’t color her abundant gray hair. She dresses casually, with minor eccentricities: purple-rimmed spectacles, gold sneakers. She looks comfortable both in her skin and in her shoes—much more preoccupied with what she is saying than with how she looks as she is saying it.”
Read more in The New Yorker. [The article is a long, in depth profile of an extraordinary woman; it is important and well worth reading!]
