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A review by electricswanbite
The Other Side of History : Daily Life in the Ancient World by Robert Garland
5.0
I love this lecture series and I want to give Robert Garland a big hug for being so flippin endearing.
Reading the other reviews, I agree with most of what people say (even sometimes the criticism) but I also want to add how great this was to listen to as a feminist. History is frustrating because you've got two layers of patriarchy to get through: the time itself, which didn't empower or record women's stories, and the modern era, which overlooks the few that do emerge and data anomalies. Garland makes an effort to really talk about what it was like being a woman in so many different societies, and it was awesome! Not just a rich woman, but a peasant, a nun, you name it. It's common for historians and anthropologists to employ strong cultural relativism, but his storytelling-style leaves room for him to say "Imagine you are a woman in Ancient Greece. Your life is probably pretty awful." It feels a lot more honest, hearing these assessments, even if I don't always agree with his views.
Reading the other reviews, I agree with most of what people say (even sometimes the criticism) but I also want to add how great this was to listen to as a feminist. History is frustrating because you've got two layers of patriarchy to get through: the time itself, which didn't empower or record women's stories, and the modern era, which overlooks the few that do emerge and data anomalies. Garland makes an effort to really talk about what it was like being a woman in so many different societies, and it was awesome! Not just a rich woman, but a peasant, a nun, you name it. It's common for historians and anthropologists to employ strong cultural relativism, but his storytelling-style leaves room for him to say "Imagine you are a woman in Ancient Greece. Your life is probably pretty awful." It feels a lot more honest, hearing these assessments, even if I don't always agree with his views.