Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism [Paperback]

Mary Daly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 1990 | ISBN-10: 0807014133 | ISBN-13: 978-0807014134 | Edition: Rei Sub

'In this deeply original, provocative book, outrage, hilarity, grief, profanity, lyricism and moral daring join in bursting the accustomed bounds even of feminist discourse.' —The New York Times Book Review

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mary Daly is the passionately acclaimed, sometimes denounced, and always controversial radical feminist "philosopher, theologian, mythologist, explorer, pirate, warrior, witch, fairy and leprechaun" (The New York Times Book Review), whose writing is "alive with creative energy, impelled by an urgency of vision and infused with the 'outlandish reality that is present in everyday occurrences'" (Mary Jo Weaver, The New York Times Book Review). Her "feminist fire and brimstone . . . shocks and angers us to a new edge of feminism" (Valerie Miner, San Francisco Chronicle). Daly is professor of theology at Boston College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press; Rei Sub edition (November 12, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807014133
• ISBN-13: 978-0807014134
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.2 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #219,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I don't hate myself and I admire this book, September 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism (Paperback)

I'm a man, which I think matters on this topic. I read this book when it was originally published back in the 80's, and it blew me away. I do not believe that Mary hates men. She certainly hates the world that men have built. Her analysis of the language men have constructed to understand that world is absolutely brilliant---you have to consider that she has, other than that tendentious language itself, no other tool with which to describe the language's inherent violence. We live entirely within a media-constructed world that is loaded with value, very much angled to exclude and diminish (to put it mildly) women, people of color, non-heteros, non-academic thinkers, etc. The shock some people experience on reading this work is basically caused by Mary's unwavering determination to hold even the most mundane and seemingly value-free details of this constructed world up to her merciless view.

81 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Naming the violence., July 28, 2000

By 

Cathleen M. Walker "geminiwalker" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism (Paperback)

Goddess, I love this book! Hateful? Racist? I think not. Angry? Unladylike? Absolutely! Mary Daly begins by challenging language which keeps us oppressed as women. It was the work of women that gave a name to the experiences so many of us share, but could not speak at one time: rape, battering, incest. There were no words, once, for what was considered, "a woman's lot in life." These things still happen, but at least now they can be spoken, at least now they can be challenged, at least now there may be hope. The title 'Gyn/Ecology,' according to the Introduction, is a way of wrenching back some wordpower. It is men, after all, who up until now have always had the power of naming, often naming something the opposite of what it really is (i.e. Military Intelligence, Peacekeeper, sanitary napkin). This book is primarily concerned with the mind/spirit/body pollution inflicted through patriarchal myth and language on all levels.

The fact that most gynecologists are males, says Daly, is in itself a collosal comment on our society. It is a symptom and example of male control over women and over language, and a clue to the extent of this control. Add to this the fact that self-appointed soul doctors, mind doctors, and body doctors who "specialize" in women are perpetrators of iatrogenic disease (the first time I had ever heard of such a thing, and have since come to specialize in its research).

"The courage to be logical -- the courage to name -- would require that we admit to ourselves that males and males only are the originators, planners, controllers, and legitimators of patriarchy. Patriarchy is the homeland of males; it is Father Land; and men are its agents. It is in the interest of men (as men in patriarchy perceive their interest) and in a superficial but Self-destructive way, of many women, to hide this fact, especially from themselves."

How anyone can call Dr. Daly racist for dis-covering the historical roots of American Gynecology balanced on the backs of experimentation on black female slaves by J. Marion Sims, "moving spirit" behind the founding of the Women's Hospital in New York, is beyond me.

Dr. Daly weaves her understanding of our oppression as women within and around her understanding of Chinese footbinding, Indian Suttee, clitoridectomy, and the witchburnings in the Middle Ages. Violence against women continues to be endemic, systemic, entrenched in our society, and its roots grow deep. Dr. Daly dis-covers and names those roots, and for many, this is a painful exercise that requires the work of thinking, something that is more and more dis-couraged in a society that prefers to do your thinking for you.

From the back cover: "Mary Daly is a Revolting Hag who holds doctorates in theology and philosophy from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. An associate professor of theology at Boston College, this Spinster spins and weaves cosmic tapestries in her own time/space. She is the author of 'Beyond God the Father' and 'The Church and the Second Sex.'"

Dr. Daly is intelligent, a delight to read, and has earned her stripes. Her willingness to speak truth to power has cost her dearly, and has earned my respect. The violence she is not afraid to name threatens the very existence of life on this planet. If you want to be part of making a difference, read this book.

59 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The radical feminist manifesto, February 3, 2001

By 

Andrew Gibbs (St. Petersburg, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism (Paperback)

As a man who has met and spoken at length to Mary Daly, I can definitively say that she does not hate men (as this seems to be the topic of discussion in these reviews). Her anger in this book is valid and purposeful. The anger is present to energize people for change. The statement that this book is racist seems incredible to me. The cultural realativist "trump card" of tradition cannot be extended to practices that directly harm people. Condemming genital mutilation and footbinding on the same grounds as the American medical establisment (the grounds that they cripple, kill and disable women) seems less racist than assuming these practices are "primitive" and thereby sacred. Daly is not an imperialist, she speaks for the unification of women (and those men willing) across all superficial borders to break the bonds of patriarchy. This is an angry book, but is enjoyable and, at times astounding, nonetheless. Daly is disgusted by the patriarchal world that has been created by men and with the complicity of women, but you should be too. Things don't seem so bad here in the US (if you are happy with $.75 to the dollar), but the picture overseas is entirely different. Across all cultures (yes even our own) rape and spousal abuse are incredibly prevelant, affecting up to 85% of women in some countries. Feminism is as needed now as it ever was, and the assumption that it only applies to "developed" cultures allows governments to block and qualify international legislation such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. This book is a direct challenge to this cultural realativism.