The First Sex [Mass Market Paperback]

Elizabeth Gould Davis (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books, Inc. (September 30, 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140035044
• ISBN-13: 978-0140035049
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #935,987 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best philisophical and theological anlaysis of matriliny, October 16, 1999

By 

Mery C. Robinson ([e-mail]) (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The First Sex (Mass Market Paperback)

Beginning with some very controversial (but very well supported documentation) foundations on the history and evolution of modern religious and patriarchial theological development, Gould-Davis presents a very compelling basis for matrilinial foundations for religion and patriarchial resistance and subsequent attempts to hammer it into submission. The chapters on matriliny and the Bible are particularly compelling and well- supported as are the very foundations of Old and New Testament editing to support the patriarchial dogma which has prevailed thus far.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars still controversial over 30 years later, May 30, 2006

By 

Jack Kirven (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The First Sex (Mass Market Paperback)

i can't help but notice which reviewers gave the book 1 star and which ones gave it 5... ;) whether it's been proven or disproven i have to say that the IDEAS are enthralling, and VERY well argued. i have to say in response to one of the reviewers that it's hard to swallow the assertion that free thinkers would be harmed in some way by this book: the work is, in and of itself, about the freedom of thought. as a college professor i am constantly reminding my students that history is written by the victors, and that anthropology is not the study of human development - look at the word - it's the study of the development of MAN. we all have our lenses, which refract our views of life experiences, and i think that this book is a testament to the notion that we really MUST reconsider what we think we know. that which is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt is often later found to err from reality. who knows what further investigations will yield? i, for one, was liberated by this book, and have used its theories as the basis of a novel (yes, fiction) i am writing. i would suggest this reading to anyone interested in gender studies, anthropology, archeology, sexual identity, and religious studies.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for feminism, April 22, 2009

By 

international film fan - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The First Sex (Mass Market Paperback)

Although it is not without flaws, the book is a landmark.
The only thing better is Mary Daly's "Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism" (1978) which builds on Elizabeth Gould Davis's work.