Women’s voices notes

CATSS structure

C - Content and genre - what is the from and subject of the matter?

• The main subject matter of the opening section on "Women and Power" is the
silencing of women in the past and its relation to today’s world.
• It is written in the form of a manifesto and includes stories of women in the past.

A - Audience, purpose, and context - who is it for, why was it written, and how does it
re ect the society and culture of the writer?

• It seems to me that this book’s main audience is primarily women, as she tells and
explains sorties from the point of view of women, which is still rather unknown.
• I believe it aims to inform, explain, and ultimately challenge patriarchal intimidation
of women.
• The manifesto was written in today’s modern world and was published in
November 2017. As the writer feels strongly about this global issue, she makes it
personal by including her mother and grandmother in the preface of the book.
Thus, the book directly re ects her views of society and was perhaps strongly
in uenced by her own experience.

T - Tone - what is the writer’s attitude to her subject, and how is it evident in the language
used?

• The tone seems to be rather informal and relaxed, and at times it even sounds like
she’s walking to an old friend. It does, however, also have a slightly frustrated tone,
suggesting that the writer has some underlying anger.

S - Structure - how is the text shaped?

• The opening section is structured into three paragraphs, each explaining a di erent
part of the story. In between the paragraphs, there are also two pictures, which
break up the tone and make it easier for the reader to understand what the writer
wants to say.

S- Style - what are the most prominent features of language and what is the impact on
the reader?

• Beard writes in very simple sentences that are easy to understand. It is almost as if
she is trying to explain something to a child. The simple and short sentences show
her con dence and directness. She also sprinkles a bit of humour in her writing,
again making it easy to read.
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What does Beard have to say about the global issue of gender inequality and how?
Beard uses pathos as well as stories from the past related to the present to prove her
point that women have been silenced and subdued by gender inequality throughout
history. In the preface, she starts o positively, showing the positive change in the last
century that her mother had felt. In the opening section, however, she tells the story of
Penelope, showing how women were treated in the past. Nevertheless, both parts of the
book try to achieve the same goal, which is to inform, explain, and challenge patriarchal
intimidation of women. The inclusion of illustrations also loosens up the tone and makes
the book easier to understand, as the reader has a visual representation of what the writer
is trying to say.
In general, Beard shows how women have been victims of gender inequality in the past
as well as in the present, and I get the impression that she wants to change that for the
better.
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