Does patriarchy traumatise the feminine? 15 August 2019 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Arts , History , Patriarchy , No Comments Edwin Longsden Long’s 1875 painting, The Babylonian Marriage Market, is monumental in more ways than one. Firstly, in size: the painting measures 10 feet by 5 feet 8 inches. Secondly, in value: in […]
Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man – the ‘ideal man’ is free of shame 2 July 2019 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Arts , History , Shame , 1 Comment Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawing, the Vitruvian Man, has always fascinated me. Drawn around 1490, Da Vinci’s drawing is named after the Roman architect Vetruvius. He not […]
The forbidden image of the penis 6 June 2019 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: History , Patriarchy , 1 Comment Some years ago, I read that the children of the Roman aristocracy used to wear a small penis-shaped charm called a fascinum. The charm signalled that they were members of the nobility and if […]
“Pleased to meet you, don’t you know my name?” It’s the right to victimize 14 May 2019 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Arts , History , Patriarchy , 1 Comment The opening song of the Rolling Stones’ 1968 album Beggars Banquet kicks off with a screech and an insistent, hypnotic beat. “Please allow me […]
Pointing the finger at God – why are Michelangelo’s willies so small? 30 November 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Arts , History , Patriarchy , 7 Comments I’ve been a little obsessed by penis size lately. I think it’s something to do with having recently begun life modelling with the good folks at […]
Nazi Germany – radicalisation of a nation 23 May 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: History , Radicalisation , No Comments Despite the recent downfall of the Islamic State, the term radicalisation is still largely associated with religious extremism. In The sexual radicalisation of Elliot Rodger, I wrote that religion is only one of several […]
Excess, patriarchy and the murder of Stanford White 22 April 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: History , Patriarchy , No Comments The media dubbed it—perhaps for the first time—the ‘crime of the century’. On the night of 25 June 1906, Harry K. Thaw shot architect Stanford White at point-blank range in the rooftop […]
The sexual radicalisation of Lawrence of Arabia 9 March 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: History , Radicalisation , Sexuality , 2 Comments I recently wrote about the influence of unconscious shame upon the personality of perhaps the single most memorable individual to emerge from World War I, T. E. Lawrence, better known as […]
Lawrence of Arabia – a shame-driven hero? 18 February 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: History , Shame , No Comments Shifting Sands, an exhibition at the British Civil War Centre in Newark, examines the perennially fascinating story of T. E. Lawrence—a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia—from multiple perspectives: historical, archaeological and personal. Pursuing clues in […]
“Violate the King’s companion” – the gravest form of treason 14 August 2017 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: History , Patriarchy , 1 Comment In a post titled Why is treason the gravest crime?, I recently wrote about how the emotional mechanics of patriarchy demand that treason—aiding and abetting the overthrow of one’s own […]