Description
Book SynopsisTraces the nineteenth-century genesis and development of an important contemporary myth about human origins: that of an original prehistoric matriarchy. This title explores the intellectual history of the myth, which arose from male scholars who mostly wanted to vindicate the patriarchal family model as a higher stage of human development.
Trade Review"Eller eloquently outlines what she believes is the myth of matriarchal prehistory... Highly recommended." Choice "Gentlemen and Amazons is a compelling, complex ... and formidably researched historical study." -- Mary Farrell Bednarowski Feminist Collections
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments 1. The Travels and Travails of Matriarchal Myth 2. Amazons Everywhere: Matriarchal Myth before Bachofen 3. On the Launching Pad: J. J. Bachofen and Das Mutterrecht 4. The Matriarchal Explosion: Anthropology Finds Mother Right (and Itself) 5. Making Matriarchal Myth Work: Communists and Feminists Discover the Mother Age 6. Mother Right on the Continent 7. Struggling to Stay Alive: Anthropology and Matriarchal Myth 8. Matriarchal Myth in the Late Nineteenth Century: Why Then? Why Not Before? Notes Bibliography Index
