Member Price: $26.96
Description
"A fiery and fun feminist reclamation of womankind's monstrous alter egos."--Publishers Weekly
A provocative look at how a sexually voracious demoness from ancient myth became the defining archetype of Western misogyny For as long as human societies have been telling stories, the patriarchy has felt threatened by women. In this book, Eleanor Johnson provides an engaging cultural history of a figure she calls the "monstrous bitch," the notorious female who has haunted the patriarchal imagination for centuries, feared for her sexual promiscuity, her exercise of reproductive agency and control, and her outspoken way of contesting patriarchal power. In a narrative brimming with insight, Johnson traces the origins of female monstrosity to the demoness Lamashtu of ancient Mesopotamia, showing how this infanticidal, hypersexual, loudmouthed monster appears in different guises throughout history. In classical Greece, she reemerges as the sorceress Medea, the child-devouring monster Lamia, and the vengeful Furies. In the medieval and early modern periods, she is an oversexed, baby-slaying, spellcasting witch; in the Romantic and Victorian eras, a vampiress; and in the modern age of psychoanalysis, a mental patient. After this longue durée history, Johnson shows how monstrous bitchery has been challenged and reinterpreted in contemporary cinematic popular culture, becoming an expression of heroism and resistance in films like Ginger Snaps, Jennifer's Body, and The Witch. She demonstrates how deeply embedded the roots of misogyny have become, and why it is more critical today than ever that we expose and address them. An irreverent look at a pervasive trope that runs through four thousand years of Western culture, Monstrous Bitch reveals that while representations of the powerful woman have evolved over time, the fear and demonization of her remains the same.Product Details
ISBN-13
Publisher
Princeton University Press
Page Count
344 pages
Product Dimensions
9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 in
FIND THE STORES
- Harvard COOP
- MIT COOP
Harvard Square COOP
1400 Massachusetts
Avenue,
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: (617) 499-2000
Monday – Saturday
10am – 8pm
Sunday
10am – 6pm
Harvard COOP
9 Brattle Street,
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel (617) 499-2000
Monday – Saturday
10am – 8pm
Sunday
10am – 6pm
Harvard Business School COOP
Spangler Center,
117 Western Ave,
Boston, MA 02163
Tel (617) 499-3248
Monday – Friday
10am – 5pm
Saturday - Sunday
Closed
Harvard Law School COOP
1595 Massachusetts
Avenue,
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel (617) 499-3255
Monday – Friday
9am – 5pm
Saturday 11am – 5pm
Sunday Closed
The COOP Concept Store
40 Western Ave, Boston, MA 02134
Monday - Saturday 10am - 6pm
Sunday 10am - 3pm
Ground floor of The Atlas Hotel, across from Harvard Business School
Harvard Medical School COOP
Countway Library,
10 Shattuck St,
Boston, MA 02115
Tel (617) 499-3300
Monday – Friday
10am – 5pm
Saturday – Sunday
Closed
MIT COOP at Kendall Sq.
80 Broadway, Cambridge,
MA 02142
Tel (617) 499-3200
Monday - Saturday
9.30am - 6pm
Sunday: Closed
MIT COOP at Stratton
84 Massachusetts Avenue,
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel: (617) 499-3240
Monday - Friday
9am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday Closed
Harvard Square COOP
1400 Massachusetts
Avenue,
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: (617) 499-2000
Monday – Saturday
10am – 8pm
Sunday
10am – 6pm
Harvard COOP
9 Brattle Street,
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel (617) 499-2000
Monday – Saturday
10am – 8pm
Sunday
10am – 6pm
Harvard Business School COOP
Spangler Center,
117 Western Ave,
Boston, MA 02163
Tel (617) 499-3248
Monday – Friday
10am – 5pm
Saturday - Sunday
Closed
Harvard Law School COOP
1595 Massachusetts
Avenue,
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel (617) 499-3255
Monday – Friday
9am – 5pm
Saturday 11am – 5pm
Sunday Closed
The COOP Concept Store
40 Western Ave, Boston, MA 02134
Monday - Saturday 10am - 6pm
Sunday 10am - 3pm
Ground floor of The Atlas Hotel, across from Harvard Business School
Harvard Medical School COOP
Countway Library,
10 Shattuck St,
Boston, MA 02115
Tel (617) 499-3300
Monday – Friday
10am – 5pm
Saturday – Sunday
Closed
FOLLOW
- @harvardcoop
- @mitcoop
