Description
Book SynopsisAmong numerous ancient Western tropes about gender and procreation, the seed and the soil is arguably the oldest, most potent, and most invisible in its apparent naturalness. The Gender Vendors denaturalizes this proto-theory of procreation and deconstructs its contemporary legacy. As metaphor for gender and procreation, seed-and-soil constructs the father as the sole generating parent and the mother as nurturing medium, like soil, for the man's seed-child. In other words, men give life; women merely give birth.The Gender Vendors examines seed-and-soil in the context of the psychology of gender, honor and chastity codes, female genital mutilation, the taboo on male femininity, femiphobia (the fear of being feminine or feminized), sexual violence, institutionalized abuse, the early modern witch hunts, the medicalization and criminalization of gender nonconformity, and campaigns against women's rights. The examination is structured around particular watersheds in the history of seed-and-
Trade ReviewThat we've been fed a pack of lies about sex becomes evident to everyone who has ever sought an intimate relationship. In The Gender Vendors, Al Jones carefully, methodically, unpacks those lies, exposing their origins to be largely a group of frightened little men who were afraid of women's sexuality. If the truth is supposed to set us free, we must first see how we've been imprisoned by sexual fictions. -- Michael Kimmel, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies, Stony Brook University
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Sex and Lies, Seed and Soil PART 1 SEED AND SOIL: THE GROUNDWORK Chapter one: History Matters Chapter two: The Psychology of Selling Gender PART II SEED AND SOIL: FROM ABRAHAM TO FREUD Chapter three: Abraham’s Seed Chapter four: Covering the Field Chapter five: The Science of Sex: Aristotle’s Seed Chapter six: The Seeds of Christianity Chapter seven: Burning Desire: The Witch as Female Chapter eight: The Nineteenth Century: Less Sex, More Lies Chapter nine: Freud’s Fantasy PART III SEED AND SOIL: CONTEMPORARY RAMIFICATIONS Chapter ten: The Contemporary Legacy Chapter eleven: Fair’s fair Bibliography Index About the Author
