Profile picture
Hallie Rubenhold
@HallieRubenhold
, 6 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
"She alienates every male adviser, marries a man for his skills at oral sex and loses her crown (and later her life) because she refuses to compromise. This makes her a Good Feminist Role Model."
Mary Queen of Scots is a bad lesson in good feminism ft.com/content/a1a0a8…
So, my question is this; we are fascinated with Tudor queens, but why do we feel such an overwhelming need to constantly rewrite these women's experiences so they reflect our own modern values? Is not trying to understand their lives in their own contexts good enough?
Interestingly, I don't see Henry VIII subjected to this similar reshaping - we are happy to accept him and his values for what they were, however alien to our own. Yet, there seems to be a desire to claim Mary Queen of Scots as a modern woman.
The TV series Reign recast Mary Queen of Scots as a type of a high school prom queen. This recent film also re-imagines her as a modern feminist. Can Mary Queen of Scots simply be allowed to be Mary Queen of Scots, a 16th century woman caught in a 16th c. power struggle?
Why is it that filmmakers think audiences will struggle with trying to understand women's experiences in the 16th century, but not men's experiences? We don't attempt to make Shakespeare's plays more 'relevant', yet we insist on making the people of his era more relevant.
Should we not trust the universality of human experience to transcend time? Is that not the lesson of the popularity of Shakespeare's plays?
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Hallie Rubenhold
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls (>4 tweets) are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @HallieRubenhold see all

Profile picture
Hallie Rubenhold
@HallieRubenhold
130 years ago today, a woman who battled with alcoholism, spent time in one of the first all female rehab centres in the UK trying to overcome it before it overcame her, was murdered in a yard off Hanbury Street. Her name was Annie Chapman.
Annie's father had been a soldier in the 2nd Life Guard, she had grown up between Knightsbridge and Windsor. Her father later became a gentleman's valet for a Crimean War hero, and also suffered from alcohol addiction. He cut his own throat while in Wrexham with his employer.
Annie went out to service and eventually married a 'gentleman's coachman' John Chapman and lived near Onslow Square, Berkeley Square and off Jermyn Street, before her husband's career took them to the Windsor estate of Sir Francis Tress Barry.
Read 10 tweets

Related threads

Profile picture
Julia Serano
@JuliaSerano
Question for folks familiar with #LGBTQ+ research, particularly on life trajectories: A lot of researchers seem obsessed with the notion that childhood gender non-conformity (GNC) is tied to being gay (or in some cases trans) as an adult... #science #psychology #sex #research
While certainly true in some cases, many LGBTQ+ adults were not GNC during childhood. These latter cases are usually ignored/viewed as anomalies, probably b/c they don't fit the "sexual inversion" model (e.g., feminized/masculinized brain) that many researchers still cling to...
...anyway, I'm compiling research/evidence that suggests an alternative model, namely, that GNC children are more likely to recognize&embrace that they are LGBTQ+ earlier in part b/c they behave different from same-assigned-gender peers, receive more scrutiny from adults/peers...
Read 5 tweets
Profile picture
Subomi
@subomiplumptre
LIFE HAPPENS | “Sho, do you cook?”, my date asked. I replied jauntily, “I used to but not anymore. I now have access to a chef and can afford to order what I like eating.” #Thread #Life #Relationships
My date followed up by asking, “If your boyfriend asked you to cook for him, would you?” I grinned, as I realised my date was sadly playing from a script. I replied, “I don’t have a guy I like who’s asking me to cook, so I can’t say.”
I think my date thought I was being coy. But, I wasn’t. I was just being honest. A while ago, I decided to deal in reality and not hypotheticals. I have tried and failed to control life. All my effort got me was an anxiety problem and therapy.
Read 19 tweets
Profile picture
ted stickles
@McDutchoven
So sick of meth and prostitution loving, ponzi scheming, evangelicals that fail to appreciate that we live in a democratic republic.
If all your mumbo jumbo was real, then your Bible told us to beware of false prophets. Maybe take a page out of your own book.
Hezekiah couldn't have kids, he was the lone high priest of aaron (Moses' dad, the guy who made the golden calf)..
His wife katherine (john the Baptist' mother) sends him a messenger to tell him she is pregnant and that it was Immaculate Conception according to an angel 1/..
3 mos. Later adolescent Mary (Jesus's ma) shows up to her aunt Catherine already having her bride price paid but also a little preggers... Catherine send another message to Hezekiah saying that an angel said that Mary was also immaculately impregnated... 2/
Read 7 tweets
Profile picture
Randy #VOTEBLUE
@Randy18888
How is anyone not more apprehensive than normal as they send their kids back to school? Mini-thread
They are told to ‘be safe’ yet we all know the clear backpacks symbolize that every child could be a threat.
They are told to be kind but we know that bullying and sexual harassment has increased dramatically with a man who needed a fixer at the bully pulpit.
Read 6 tweets
Profile picture
Chris Golub
@ActThinkRepeat
THREAD: Role models do the communities they profess to fight for an immense disservice by propping up straw man, systemic intangibles instead of sharing the principles they so obviously used to succeed.

@RubinReport @RealCandaceO @kanyewest @EdLatimore
#WednesdayWisdom
1/5
The degree to which a role model uses their platform to spread disempowering beliefs is the extent to which their idolizers will be lead away from success and fulfillment.

If you truly care you would share what you know best: the principles and behaviors that worked for you.
2/5
If you teach people to focus on the past, what’s out of their control, and what they don’t have (yet) you set a context of suffering without showing the way out.
3/5
Read 10 tweets
Profile picture
Workers Solidarity
@WSMIreland
A thread on the long running rebellion that eventually forced the government to call a referendum to #repealthe8th - photo is us on the February 1992 X-case march - the point at which the tide turned & lead to the #Together4Yes to get rid of #8thref this May
Our involvement goes further back, WSM formed in 1984 but those members had fought introduction of the 8th as part of the Anti-Amendment Campaign. Felt AAC was too defensive through and there was a need to always include a 'womens right to choose' on every platform
In 1984 Eileen Flynn sacked from teaching job at New Ross convent school - Jesuit priest wrote “Ms Flynn’s pregnancy is significant only as being incontrovertible evidence that her relations with the man in whose house she resided were in fact immoral...
Read 78 tweets

Trending hashtags

#8thref #ai #time #SurivingRKelly #TransitionalStates #SaturdayMorning #Winning #bigdat #Zamel #SGMS #Life #sexist #Vietnam #MuteRKelly #GoodbyeDemocrats #sex #Page #skills #AvengerInfinityWar #power #TheBeatles #transgender #yourewelcome #FlynnsDigitalArmy #cis
Follow Us on Twitter!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!