19413 - An Inconvenient Woman

Course Overview

At thirteen, Joan of Arc received messages from God to expel the English from France and crown Charles of Valois as king. Despite being a peasant and a woman, she persuaded Charles to let her to lead a French army which achieved a momentous victory over the English. After seeing Charles crowned, she was captured and tried for witchcraft, heresy and (shocker) dressing like a man. Having achieved what he wanted, Charles did nothing to save her. She was burned at the stake. She had become an inconvenient woman.

There are many inconvenient women in history. Celtic queen Boudicca led an almost successful uprising against Roman forces in Britain. Rather than be taken alive after losing her final battle, she took poison. When Cortes invaded Mexico, native woman Malinche was given to the Spanish as a slave. She became his interpreter, bore him a son, and warned him of a plot to kill the Spanish. She stayed by his side while he conquered Mexico. Unlike Joan of Arc, Malinche was not dismissed by the man who used her, but she is still an inconvenient woman. Many modern Mexicans despise her. To be called “malinchista” in Mexico is a damning epithet.

Join us for a class about strong women dismissed and denigrated for their strength including Elizabeth Friedman whose cryptanalytical skills were pivotal to victory against the Nazis but whose achievements were claimed by J. Edgar Hoover as his own.