Reclaiming Eve Sex, power, and religious misogyny

Distrust of sex is as old as the Book of Genesis. And the idea that men’s weakness for women’s charms means they shouldn’t listen to them is as old as the Garden of Eden. But why?Reclaiming Eve explores the contradictions and surprises of attitudes to women and to sex in the ancient world.

Kate Cooper is Professor of History in the University of London (Royal Holloway). Her work explores the social world of the Roman Mediterranean, with a special interest in gender, the family, and religious violence. Her books include Band of Angels: The Forgotten World of Early Christian Women (Atlantic Books), and Queens of a Fallen World: The Lost Women of Augustine's Confessions (Basic Books), which in 2023 was a finalist for the Cundill Prize and winner of the Rhakotis Prize.This lecture is the part of public program of the feminist group show Sex Reenchanted