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Sexism in Old Sumer
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11485 |
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Section : |
BOOK WORLD
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| Issue
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10 / 1986 |
3,169 Words |
| Author
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Aileen S. Kraditor
Aileen S. Kraditor is professor emerita of history at Boston
University. |
THE CREATION OF PATRIARCHY
Gerda Lerner
Oxford University Press, 1986,
$21.95
Gerda Lerner wrote this book to prove three principal theses: that patriarchy is an unfortunate accident of history, rather than a necessary expression of biology or developing civilization; that because it was invented in time it can be abolished in time; and that, being bad, it should be abolished. This volume takes us up to the time of Aristotle; a second volume will proceed to the present.
The author, whose training is in American women's history spent years reading ancient Near Eastern sources in modern-language translations to pile up data that show patriarchy in the process of evolving. Having, as she believes, proved the first thesis, she asserts the second as a logical corollary, but even if patriarchy were invented, it does not necessarily follow that it can be abolished. Nor does the third thesis - that it should be abolished - follow from the data presented. The book is, in short, one long non sequitur with source citations. The three principal theses are intermingled throughout the volume, but we can examine each in turn.
To prepare the way for the historical material, Lerner offers, in the chapter entitled, "A Working Hypothesis" - a misnomer, for a hypothesis is tested against possibly disconfirming data. The object here, however, is political: "A correct analysis of our situation and how it came to be what it is will help us to create an empowering theory" (p. 37). "What Freud should have said
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