--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't think that we are completely…" description: "\"I don't think that we are completely dominated by what we have inherited from the past, but it is the case that as far back as you can go - just to Hom..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/mary-beard-3016_books_i-don-t-think-that-we-are-completely-dom_3181819.png" --- # I don't think that we are completely dominated by what we… ![“I don't think that we are completely dominated by what we have inherited from the past, but it is the case that as far back as you can go - just to Homer, but also to the literature of Rome, the literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance - what you will find is that women's voices are not taken…” quote by Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/mary-beard-3016_books_i-don-t-think-that-we-are-completely-dom_3181819.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/mary-beard-3016_books_i-don-t-think-that-we-are-completely-dom_3181819.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/mary-beard-3016_books_i-don-t-think-that-we-are-completely-dom_3181819.png) > “I don't think that we are completely dominated by what we have inherited from the past, but it is the case that as far back as you can go - just to Homer, but also to the literature of Rome, the literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance - what you will find is that women's voices are not taken seriously.” [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historical patterns show women's voices have been marginalized across cultures and eras. **In simple terms:** Women’s voices have been ignored historically. Key Takeaway Recognize and amplify women’s perspectives today. Themes gender history voice power inequality Mood reflective determined hopeful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - academic research - media analysis - policy making - education reform - activism Key Concepts Patriarchy social bias cultural legacy Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions ensure women’s contributions are valued? - What steps can individuals take to challenge historical bias? A Different Perspective Even today, some platforms still marginalize women. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Dominated Inherited](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dominated-inherited-5833514/) [Find](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/find/) [Homer Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homer-literature-4096181/) [Inherited Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inherited-past-3844106/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Middle ages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-ages/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Renaissance Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/renaissance-women-4755843/) [Rome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rome/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) [Women Voices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-voices-638961/) ## Related quotes > [The historical sense compels a man to write not merely with his own generation in his bones, but with a feeling that the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/the-historical-sense-compels-a-man-to-write-not-merely-with-his-own/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [During the Renaissance, women were not allowed to attend art school. Everyone asks, where are the great women painters of the Renaissance?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-decrow/during-the-renaissance-women-were-not-allowed-to-attend-art-school/) [Karen DeCrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-decrow/) > [Yes, I have inherited the past because I have acknowledged it at last? And, now that I have come to understand it, I no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-ackroyd/yes-i-have-inherited-the-past-because-i-have-acknowledged-it-at-last/) [Peter Ackroyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-ackroyd/) > [We have inherited the past; we can create the future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-have-inherited-the-past-we-can-create-the-future/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For whatever reason, some sorts of women's silence were broken by MeToo. This is the optimistic bit. And that will lead to a much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/for-whatever-reason-some-sorts-of-women-s-silence-were-broken-by/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [Women's voices aren't heard often enough. Congress should reflect the population, but with only 20 percent women in the Senate and 18 percent in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-gillibrand/women-s-voices-aren-t-heard-often-enough-congress-should-reflect-the/) [Kirsten Gillibrand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirsten-gillibrand/) > [We have to fight twice as hard, three times as hard - not only as conservatives, but frankly, as women - to have our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-wagner/we-have-to-fight-twice-as-hard-three-times-as-hard-not-only-as/) [Ann Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-wagner/) > [We have an almost desperate need for more women to run for office and for more women to really gut it out after they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mika-brzezinski/we-have-an-almost-desperate-need-for-more-women-to-run-for-office-and/) [Mika Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mika-brzezinski/) > [My interest in women's voices started when I was in the boys' choir and we were singing in opera choruses. 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There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-obama/during-the-first-campaign-one-of-my-jobs-as-my-husband-s-spouse-was/) [Michelle Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-obama/) > [Women’s voices, LGBT voices, and the voices of people of color are all needed in any art form if we want to explore the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-abel/women-s-voices-lgbt-voices-and-the-voices-of-people-of-color-are-all/) [Jessica Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-abel/) > [Women's voices need to be in politics, and shaping politics from the very beginning, not serve as an afterthought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zephyr-teachout/women-s-voices-need-to-be-in-politics-and-shaping-politics-from-the/) [Zephyr Teachout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zephyr-teachout/) > [It's not enough for women to speak out on the issue - for the message to be strong and consistent, women's voices must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-conyers/it-s-not-enough-for-women-to-speak-out-on-the-issue-for-the-message/) [John Conyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-conyers/) > [I think older women's voices are the most hated voices in the world - whether it's because people are reminded of their mothers or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-horacek/i-think-older-women-s-voices-are-the-most-hated-voices-in-the-world/) [Judy Horacek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-horacek/) ## More by Mary Beard > [I receive something we might euphemistically call an 'inappropriately hostile' response - that is to say, more than fair criticism or even fair anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-receive-something-we-might-euphemistically-call-an-inappropriately/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [We have never escaped a certain male cultural desire for women's silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/we-have-never-escaped-a-certain-male-cultural-desire-for-women-s/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“defend women’s right to be wrong, at least occasionally.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/defend-women-s-right-to-be-wrong-at-least-occasionally/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [You don't overturn x-thousand years of patriarchy in a generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/you-don-t-overturn-x-thousand-years-of-patriarchy-in-a-generation/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“we have no template for what a powerful woman looks like, except that she looks rather like a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/we-have-no-template-for-what-a-powerful-woman-looks-like-except-that/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“(In the Afghan parliament, apparently, they disconnect the mics when they don’t want to hear the women speak).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/in-the-afghan-parliament-apparently-they-disconnect-the-mics-when/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [I've chosen to be this way because that's how I feel comfortable with myself. That's how I am. It's about joining up the dots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-ve-chosen-to-be-this-way-because-that-s-how-i-feel-comfortable-with/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [People who exploit others come to spend an enormous amount of energy wondering about and justifying that exploitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/people-who-exploit-others-come-to-spend-an-enormous-amount-of-energy/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [Wherever possible, I try to see things from the other side of the dividing line and to read civilisation 'against the grain.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/wherever-possible-i-try-to-see-things-from-the-other-side-of-the/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [I remember plastering the kitchen with Black Power pictures of Angela Davis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-remember-plastering-the-kitchen-with-black-power-pictures-of-angela/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“thinking about power as an attribute or even a verb (‘to power’), not as a possession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/thinking-about-power-as-an-attribute-or-even-a-verb-to-power-not-as-a/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [If women are not perceived to be fully within the structures of power, surely it is power that we need to redefine rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/if-women-are-not-perceived-to-be-fully-within-the-structures-of-power/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [When it comes to silencing women, Western culture has had thousands of years of practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/when-it-comes-to-silencing-women-western-culture-has-had-thousands-of/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [I think that what will help women get into positions of power - well, day nurseries, equal pay, family-friendly working hours. And I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-think-that-what-will-help-women-get-into-positions-of-power-well/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) > [“One of its (civilisations) most powerful weapons has always been 'barbarity': 'we' know that 'we' are civilised by contrasting ourselves with those we deem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/one-of-its-civilisations-most-powerful-weapons-has-always-been/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) [Explore all 137 Mary Beard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. Krebs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-k-krebs/) > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I don't think that we are completely dominated by what we have inherited from the past, but it is the case that as far back as you can go - just to Homer, but also to the literature of Rome, the literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance - what you will find is that women's voices are not taken seriously.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Beard" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-don-t-think-that-we-are-completely-dominated-by-what-we-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Books" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-don-t-think-that-we-are-completely-dominated-by-what-we-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/mary-beard-3016_books_i-don-t-think-that-we-are-completely-dom_3181819.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/mary-beard-3016_books_i-don-t-think-that-we-are-completely-dom_3181819.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db9/mary-beard-3016_books_i-don-t-think-that-we-are-completely-dom_3181819.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I don't think that we are completely dominated by what we have inherited from the past, but it is the case…” — Mary Beard", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mary Beard", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I don't think that we are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-don-t-think-that-we-are-completely-dominated-by-what-we-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-don-t-think-that-we-are-completely-dominated-by-what-we-have/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```