Title: For collectors of matri-potestal examples
Product review: The maddening thing about this book is the way that it combines a celebration of behavior that defies our culture's traditional gender norms with gender stereotyping by the author. The most heinous example is the ending words of the book: Wilde tells us that in order for civilization to advance Reason [apparently exclusively male] had to conquer Mystery [the female speciality]. The book is rather disorganized, as if Wilde changed her purpose part way through. She looks at Central Asian warrior women, but rejects them as not matching closely enough with the Amazons' history/myth. Then she hops around in time and space recounting instances of feminine authority, especially in the religious sphere. Interesting little tidbits, but nothing really startling. No doubt this book will be someone's first encounter with these ideas, but any adult who hasn't heard these themes in the last thirty years hasn't been paying attention.
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