Face-Ism In Cleopatra

The documentary began by noting that the greatness and scale of the Egyptian statues of figures dating back 2000 to 3000 years old were mostly male – and that the females from the same time period tended to be depicted on a much smaller scale: on coins. Is this one way to broach the subject that behind a great man there is a great woman? And in this case, the interpretation is more literal – not “behind” in the meaning of “supporting,” likely in a morally supportive way, but rather “behind” in the sense of “not keeping up with” – in a word: “face-ism.” Face-ism is the phenomenon of men’s faces tending to receive more prominence than women’s from depictions in advertising to, as recently discussed, politicians (Konrath & Schwarz). Cleopatra was depicted on a coin in contrast to the monumental statues of males, according to the documentary. Could this be an example of behind a great man there is a great woman? This would
She was a woman who audaciously dared dress like a man. She used myrrh from the Land of Punt to make the skin on her body shine. She proved that a successful leader did not have to be a man. As a tribute to her father, the one who made her, whom she meant to be Amun, king of the gods, she had two large obelisks constructed. And in the procession worshipping the gods and the king of the gods, she was the most important figure depicted, in her veneration to Amun. This indicates that ancient Egypt was an egalitarian society, where women could achieve as much as and had the same rights as men. Here, then, under Hatshepsut, face-ism was not to be, as she was portrayed equally to men, and behind this great woman was a great man, Amun, king of the gods. Hatshepsut succeeded in reversing the roles of male and female. And so it was that after her death, her stepson ruled, and women did not rule for a long time after