Judith MacKenzie Bennett is an American historian, Emerita Professor of History and John R. Hubbard Chair in British History at the University of Southern California.
Bennett writes and teaches about medieval Europe, specifically focusing on gender,[1][2] women's history,[3] and rural peasants.
She has authored and edited nine books and over 30 articles and chapters on medieval women, women's work, and feminist history, as well as a widely used medieval history text, Medieval Europe: A Short History (McGraw Hill).
[7] In her influential 2006 book, History Matters: Patriarchy and the Challenge of Feminism, Bennett argued for the importance of feminist approaches to history and the role of longue durée perspectives in understanding the 'patriarchal equilibrium' that has defined the history of women's experiences over multiple historical periods.
This 'patriarchal equilibrium' is characterised by Bennett as a lack of transformation in women's status in comparison to that of men, despite changes over time.