LECTURE AVAILABLE ONLINE

Gender and Beauty in the Hebrew Bible

The lecture Gender and Beauty in the Hebrew Bible is a part of the Ancient Attraction-lecture series. This lecture is presented by Dr. Hanna Tervanotko, McMaster University, Canada.

Dr. Tervanotko analyzes how female and male beauty are understood in the texts of the Hebrew Bible. For women, beauty has long been argued to be the most important trait. When female beauty is read through the lens of sociological studies, one can see that beauty is not only a question of aesthetics. Rather, contemporary social-scientific studies show how physical attractiveness often carries presuppositions regarding the individual's success in life. Hence it is possible that also in the texts of the Hebrew Bible beauty signifies some success in life, yet, aligning with the sociological studies, this success also contains a risk of not being fully acknowledged. In contrast to female beauty, for male figures beauty is but one trait among many others and it indicates socio-political success and divine protection.

Watch the lecture via Youtube below.

Click here for more information on this Zoom webinar.