Body Power in the Ancient World: Patriarchal Power and the Commodification of Women

Kathlyn M. Cooney

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Chapter 4 Body Power in the Ancient World: Patriarchal Power and the Commodification of Women

In: Understanding Power in Ancient Egypt and the Near East, Volume 1

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Kathlyn M. Cooney

Kathlyn M. Cooney
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 104–135

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004712485_006

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Abstract

Social historian Michael Mann separates social power into four overlapping types—ideological, economic, military, and political. He doesn’t include sexual and/or gendered power, but notes that identifying as female was a game changer when finding power within patriarchal systems. This paper will examine how patriarchal and authoritarian family dynasties utilized female power to prop up or extend their power by adding a sexual and/or gender component to the Michael Mann system of social power. I will argue that the modern reception of ancient female power is so positivist—imposing pacific ruling strategies or overemphasizing a particular individual woman’s ability to change the system—that we overlook how even the powerful female kings of ancient Egypt were pawns in a larger system of patriarchal authoritarianism.

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Understanding Power in Ancient Egypt and the Near East, Volume 1

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Series: Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, Volume: 140

Cover Understanding Power in Ancient Egypt and the Near East, Volume 1

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004712485

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 06 Nov 2024

Subjects
- Ancient Near East and Egypt
  - History

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African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
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Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
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Chapter 4 Body Power in the Ancient World: Patriarchal Power and the Commodification of Women

Abstract

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Understanding Power in Ancient Egypt and the Near East, Volume 1

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