Off With Her Head by Eleanor Herman

Demonized Women

Many modern female politicians are portrayed as Medusa, an evil murderous creature whose hair is hissing snakes (i.e. an ancient symbol of female power) and who turned men to stone with a single glance. Are male politicians portrayed as ancient loathsome symbols? Perhaps Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the gates of Hades? The Cyclops? What about the fire-breathing monster Chimaera? No? Why not?

Powerful women are often portrayed as witches. Here, Kamala Harris is shown, a particular focus of the Misogynist’s Handbook as she is both female and black. In past centuries, witches were thought to steal men’s penises and keep them in boxes, feeding them grain and corn. Tucker Carlson of Fox News is particularly worried about this kind of witchy castration happening to him, by his own accounts. Are powerful men ever portrayed as warlocks? No, didn’t think so.

Photo of Ursula von der Leyen by Sandro Halank

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, was denied a seat by President Erdogwan of Turkey, while her male colleague, the President of the European Union, was given a chair next to Erdogan. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Turkey had recently withdrawn from a treaty that protects women against violence and discrimination. Watch the ”Sofagate” controversy unfold!

For thousands of years, the Christian Church has blamed all women for Eve giving Adam the forbidden fruit, despite God telling her and Adam not to eat it. All women, the Church Fathers said, are therefore tainted and sinful, deceitful temptresses. Since thousands of years of history have judged all women by the badly behaved Eve, we might also deduce that all men are bumbling idiots, too stupid to question a terrible idea. But somehow that part got lost in translation.

Jezebel is known in the Bible as the Slut of Samaria, an Israelite queen who worshipped false gods and applied makeup and fixed her hair before meeting her son’s killer, the new king, in an attempt to seduce him and save her own life. More likely, however, is that she was a 60-year-old grandmother and royal widow who bravely prepared herself to die with the dignity of a queen. Despite that, her name has become a byword for “slut.”

Cleopatra, the most intelligent, powerful, and wealthy woman of the ancient world, was slut-shamed by her male enemies, the leaders of the Roman Republic. She had hundreds—no, thousands!—of lovers. In a typical “blame the woman” maneuver, they blamed her for the treachery and weakness of her lover, the Roman general Mark Antony. Because it’s always the woman’s fault when men behave badly, right?

Marie Antoinette was the subject of pornographic writings for many years before the 1789 Fall of the Bastille. Drought, famine, mismanagement of the royal coffers—they were all blamed on her, a woman with no political power whatsoever, rather than her good-hearted but rather daft husband, King Louis XVI. Who had the power. (Blame the woman, right?) Marie was expected to wear elaborate clothing befitting the dignity of a queen of France. When she didn’t, she was harshly criticized for lacking in dignity. When she did, she was criticized for wasting money from the royal coffers. The woman couldn’t win. And LOST HER HEAD in the process.

Catherine de Medici, the French queen mother, is known as a mass murderer who plotted the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572 to kills thousands of Huguenots across France. A closer examination of her life, however, will show that she exhausted herself for a decade before the massacre, and for 17 years afterward, until her deathbed, to bring peace to France in the Catholic-Huguenot religious wars. Her purported role in the massacre came from a single Huguenot report blaming the woman, whereas other Huguenot reports blaming the male members of the royal family were nearly not as popular. It is far more likely that her son, the king, or his brother planned the massacre.

History has reduced Anne Boleyn to a wily seductive temptress, greedy for power and riches, using Henry VIII’s unsated lust for her to force him to divorce his faithful dowdy wife and make her queen. A closer examination of her story, however, shows that when Henry initially stalked her, she fled from him for a year. Once he offered her honorable marriage, she relented. As queen, she was a philanthropist to the poor and to low-income students, a strict mistress enforcing good moral conduct at court, and a fervent religious reformer. Oddly, Henry VIII’s cruel treatment of his ex-wife and daughter are all blamed on her, though it is hard not to laugh at the image of a shrinking violet Henry VIII meekly accepting Anne’s cruel and outrageous orders. But Anne’s story was written by her worst enemy at court, and everyone loves the tale of a slut losing her head.

Photo of Hillary Clinton by Gage Skidmore

Hillary Clinton has been cast as a witch worthy of burning and hanging, a slut and lesbian, who tortured, sexually abused, and cannibalized young children under a Washington, DC pizza parlor, and a murderer of dozens of others, with a shrill voice and scary laugh, and hips and ankles far too wide. Does anybody talk about male politicians like this?

Julia Gillard was Australia’s first female prime minister from 2010 to 2013. She suffered the worst onslaught of misogyny ever up until that time. She was harshly criticized for her clothing, the width of her hips, the size of her earlobes, her accent, and the way she breathed air. Her Misogyny Speech is epic, and an absolute must-see.

Theresa May was the second female prime minister of Great Britain from 2016-2019. She was widely criticized for not having children, though somewhat forgiven as she and her husband had, at least, tried but, alas, it had not worked out. Women politicians are often seen as selfish and uncaring if they don't have children (which is usually not the case for their male counterparts) but if they have done the right thing by having children, women are asked "While you are working, who is looking after your husband and children?" Rarely, if ever, are male politicians asked this.

Reviews

Praise for the works of Eleanor Herman.

Off With Her Head

“Brisk and witty...this feminist history enrages and entertains.” — Publishers Weekly

“Timely and politically spot-on, this is sure to be a popular title.” — Kirkus Reviews

Sex with Kings

“Open Sex with Kings at almost any page and you’ll find yourself immersed in a bawdy, deliciously appealing illicit scene occurring in the highest places.” — New York Times Book Review

“An irreproachably researched and amusingly written history of European monarchs’ jezebels.” — Kirkus Reviews (STARRED Review)

“Sex with Kings is . . . a lot more fun than Danielle Steel or Dan Brown.” — Washington Post Book World

Sex with Queens

“Herman bares all the hot and heavy details about the lewd lives of royal lovers. . . . The addictively good dish is worth, if not a king’s ransom, then at least the cover’s price tag.” — Entertainment Weekly

“. . . the salacious details about the sometimes-outlandish characters . . . make this book sparkle brighter than a crown jewel.” — Emily McCombs, Bust

Royal Art of Poison

“Morbidly witty.” ― Marilyn Stasio, New York Times

“You’ll be as appalled at times as you are entertained.” ― Bustle, one of The 17 Best Nonfiction Books Coming Out In June 2018

“A heady mix of erudite history and delicious gossip.” ― Aja Raden, author of Stoned

Chapter 1: The Roots of Misogyny
Chapter 2: Her Overweening Ambition
Chapter 3: Why Doesn't She Do Something About Her Hair?
Chapter 4: The Dangers of Female Hormones
Chapter 5: The Alarming Shrillness of Her Voice
Chapter 6: The Mysterious Unlikability of Female Candidates
Chapter 7: Who is Taking Care of Her Husband and Children?
Chapter 8: She's a Witch and Other Monsters

Chapter 9: She's a Bitch and Other Animals
Chapter 10: Her Sexual Depravity
Chapter 11: She's a Murderer
Chapter 12: Additional Tools to Diminish Her
Chapter 13: Misogynoir: When Powerful People are Female & Black
Chapter 14: Off With Her Head!
Chapter 15: Ripping Up the Misogynist's Handbook

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About the Author

Eleanor Herman

is the New York Times bestselling author of Sex with Kings, Sex with the Queen, and several other works of popular history. She has hosted Lost Worlds for The History Channel, The Madness of Henry VIII for the National Geographic Channel, and two seasons of America: Fact vs. Fiction for The American Heroes Channel. She writes in a home office filled with random historical artifacts, paintings of dead people, four sleeping cats and a very naughty rescue dog.

Three Thousand Years of Demonizing Women in Power

Demonized Women

Book Events

Reviews

Off With Her Head

Sex with Kings

Sex with Queens

Royal Art of Poison

Contents

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About the Author

Eleanor Herman

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Get in Contact

Demonized Women

Book Events

Reviews

Off With Her Head

Sex with Kings

Sex with Queens

Royal Art of Poison

Contents

Tab Title 3

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Title title4

About the Author

Eleanor Herman

Tab Title 3

Title3 title

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Title title4

Get in Contact

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