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Gerda Lerner
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The Creation of Patriarchy (Women and History; V. 1) Revised ed. Edition

by Gerda Lerner (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 230
See all formats and editions
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A major new work by a leading historian and pioneer in women's studies, The Creation of Patriarchy is a radical reconceptualization of Western civilization that makes gender central to its analysis. Gerda Lerner argues that male dominance over women is not "natural" or biological, but the product of an historical development begun in the second millennium B.C. in the Ancient Near East. As patriarchy as a system of organizing society was established historically, she contends, it can also be ended by the historical process.

Focusing on the contradiction between women's central role in creating society and their marginality in the meaning-giving process of definition and interpretation, Lerner explores such fascinating questions as: What can account for women's exclusion from the historical process? What could explain the long delay--more than 3,500 years--in women's coming to consciousness of their own subordinate position? She goes back to the cultures of the earliest known civilizations--those of the ancient Near East--to discover the origins of the major gender metaphors of Western civilization. Using historical, literary, archaeological, and artistic evidence, she then traces the development of these ideas, symbols, and metaphors and their incorporation into Western civilization as the basis of patriarchal gender relations.
Previous page
  1. ISBN-10
    9780195051858
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0195051858
  3. Edition
    Revised ed.
  4. Publisher
    Oxford University Press
  5. Publication date
    October 22, 1987
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
  8. Print length
    368 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Excellent and worthwhile for a course on status and gender."--Prof. Hedrich, UC Santa Cruz

"Lerner places the patriarchal issues in a larger historical context--which is absolutely necessary for understanding how patriarchy functioned in ancient Israel, and how it finds expression in the Hebrew Scriptures."--Alice L. Laffey, College of the Holy Cross

"A provocative and challenging interpretation of the historical subordination of women."--The History Teacher

"Lerner's work represents a significant step forward in the development of the feminist critique of the patriarchal edifice of knowledge and the writing of women's history....A very serious, provocative and important book."--America

"An important book, worthy of careful study."--A.D. Kilmer, University of California, Berkeley

"May well be the most important work in feminist theory to appear in our generation."--New Directions for Women

"History in the grand mode....[It] should be on everyone's reading list."--The Women's Review of Books

"This book dramatically reopens a chapter of women's history that historians had thought was forever closed to them--the origins of the collective dominance of women by men."--Kathryn Kish Sklar, State University of New York, Binghamton

"Written by one of the most brilliant historians of our era, this book dramatically reopens a chapter of women's history that historians had thought was forever closed to them--the origins of the collective dominance of women by men. Its evidence is fascinating, its arguments compelling, and its conclusions full of significance for our time as well as the distant past."--Kathryn Kish Sklar, University of California, Los Angeles

"A magnificent achievement."--William Chafe, Duke University

"The Creation of Patriarchy gives us a grand historical framework that was impossible even to imagine before the enlightenment about women's place in the world provided by her earlier work and that of other feminist scholars."--Ms. Magazine

"The Creation of Patriarchy has the boldness, authority, and richness of The Second Sex."--Catharine R. Stimpson, Rutgers University

"A vastly ambitious and admirable, even heroic study...a truly major work....Of marvelous intellectual quality."--History: Reviews of New Books

"The Creation of Patriarchy sets out in the best tradition of sophisticated, disinterested scholarship to explore the origins of patriarchy."--Judaica

"[Lerner] has brought together a valuable body of information bearing on the condition of women in ancient Near Eastern societies."--Religious Studies Review

"Ought to be read by all Jews and Christians attempting to be more faithful to what they have already found in the biblical record--namely, the equality of all humans in the eyes of God."--The Christian Century

"Lerner has produced...rich insights into the history of women, the family, slavery, prostitution, religion and class....[She has] written a book that cannot be ignored."--Ann L. Barstow, CGWHP Newsletter

"[A] beautifully written book...Her aim is not only to raise provocative ideas but also to point out that in order to have an accurate history of humankind, it will be necessary for women to reclaim their own history and contributions to culture."--CHOICE

"An excellent, focused study of the origins, causes and effects of Patriarchy. I use much of her information in my class 'Women and Religion' because it is so well documented, researched and explained. I have already ordered the book for our library."--Marianne Ferguson, Buffalo State College

Book Description

"Gerda Lerner's The Creation of Patriarchy may well be the most important work in feminist theory to appear in our generation."--New Directions for Women

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0195051858
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Revised ed. edition (October 22, 1987)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780195051858
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195051858
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.02 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 230

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Gerda Lerner

Gerda Lerner

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
230 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Grace Rudd
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Give Up, Read It!
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2022
Verified Purchase
I'll admit, I was a bit disappointed when I started this book. I'd been a bit spoiled with my social historical books being cut into bite sized pieces and easier to chew and swallow. However, this book only barely falls into the social part of the historical review category.
That said, it was fascinating! There were points I stopped, shocked. Other points I stopped, and looked things up. Still others when I stopped, and pulled another book from my shelf to reflect on referenced passages. This book is rich in knowledge and does a fairly good job at looking at all sides of the coin: including the inside.
If you are serious on understanding what patriarchy is, where it came from, why it's such a big deal, if you're on your dismantling journey already: buy this book! It will be a priceless resource for you. In that:
10/10 recommend

A brief warning, and then a quote. The first two days I was reading this book (took me 3 days total), I had severe PTSD nightmares at night which I remembered in detail when I awoke. Even though the book was not discussing anything even close to my triggers, the subconscious is aware. I am lucky to have a therapist with openings quickly. I say this so that you may be ready if the same happens to you as your brain processes what you are learning. And now, the quote:
"Thus they have learned to mistrust their own experience and devalue it. What wisdom can there be in menses, what source of knowledge in the milk filled breast? What food for abstraction in the daily routine of feeding and cleaning? Patriarchal thought has relegated such gender defined experiences to the realm of the natural, the non-transcendent. Women's knowledge becomes mere intuition, women's talk becomes gossip."
38 people found this helpful
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Louise M Hewett
5.0 out of 5 stars An important text.
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2019
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The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner pulled together many threads of a narrative I had been researching for about twenty-five years. I wish I'd had the chance to read it sooner, but such is the organic learning process. I found Lerner's theory solid and sense-making, giving a foundation to information I had come across elsewhere, and a sense of which I had intuited in that process. The summary chapter, 'The Creation of Patriarchy' was a very satisfying end to the book, offering concise paragraphs pulling everything together. At a time in history when the patriarchy is re-asserting itself by whatever means available, it seems that once again the erasure of women is at its core with extreme gender identity politics seeking to negate women's very existence before the female portion of humanity have really had the chance to revitalise and articulate our own voices, needs and to correct injustices as well as heal from systems that give comfort and ease with the one hand, and ensure our second-rate citizenry with the other. Understanding this dynamic seems to be urgent and necessary if we are to create any real changes. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be reading 'The Creation of Feminist Consciousness' as soon as I'm able. For those interested in a coherent look at where patriarchy comes from, and how it is so seemingly obscured in present times, I feel this book remains an important text.
36 people found this helpful
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daleelaine
5.0 out of 5 stars The Creation of Patriarchy
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2012
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I found this book to be very scholarly written with authentic documentation and well worth ones time and money. As a male, I recommend this book for men as well as women to read to develop a better understanding of the development of subjugation of women throughout history and men's domination, and more specifically this development through Biblical text and Christian writings even though some patriarchy preceded Biblical writings. Sometime ago, I concluded that the Bible was written by men and for men, and Lerner's book certainly confirms and documents that conclusion, noting that women's intellectual abilities and sexuality have been subjugated for men's dominance.

Other books I have found supportive of this concept are: Unportected Texts by Jennifer Knust; When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone;
Sexuality in The World's Religions by Geoffrey Parrinder; In the Wake of the Goddesses : Women, Culture, and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth byTikva Frymer-Kensky.
40 people found this helpful
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Cameron
5.0 out of 5 stars Probably not what you want to hear!
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2019
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A detailed historical and archaeological information that traces the subtle and deadly oppression of females. There is no magical and wonderful golden period of matriarchy, of peace and equanimity, of a rape-free world for which women can keep in their hearts as a beacon of hope. But as Lerner points out, it is men and (some) women who continue to uphold the artificial and destructive patriarchy. Therefore, women and (some) men could tear it down. But I won't hold my breath.
30 people found this helpful
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jonathan latham
5.0 out of 5 stars The best
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2019
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Long story short: Feminist scholarship (and historical scholarship in general) could not live with this book. Rather than reckon with its insights it went downhill ever after.
4 people found this helpful
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Fred A. McCurdy
4.0 out of 5 stars Very Good Reading Material For A High School Student
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2015
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This is another book I purchased for my son as a part of the summer reading program at his school.
2 people found this helpful
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Vintagebiker
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed reading it
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2020
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This was a research material and really enjoyed reading it.
3 people found this helpful
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Jose Luis Saenz
5.0 out of 5 stars Prompt service
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2019
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My wife is a historian. She was doing some research on the subject matter.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Michael R. Quinn
5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative and interesting
Reviewed in Canada on September 17, 2022
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I learned a lot from this book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good overview of how patriarchy developed from the stone age through the bronze age. Quite a sad subject but an important one to understand. The author tackles it thoroughly and provides many sources.
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Priscilla Ann
5.0 out of 5 stars Good
Reviewed in India on March 24, 2024
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A wonderful book, thanks
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MARIA VIU
5.0 out of 5 stars Un clàssic del feminisme
Reviewed in Spain on October 7, 2023
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Un text imprescindible per a contextualitzar la situació de les dones, que malauradament no passa de moda. El voldria haver trobat en català.
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Helen Calvert Carter
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, one of the best I have in my collection.
Reviewed in Mexico on May 9, 2019
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This is an absolutely incredible book. In fact I would put it up there as one of the three books that I found life-changing. It describes in incredible detail the origin of patriarchy in Neolithic times and how it has morphed and manifested through time. I would rate this book as a feminist primer, as it provides an in-depth background and rationale for every single issue women face today. It is not an easy read, not only in terms of the density of the information it contains and how it showcases the depth of the author's knowledge but in terms of how, after reading it, one views the world as a woman. How basically the world does not belong to us, how it was not created by or for us and how it is entirely useless to try and force ourselves into a system which was based on our enslavement. It describes the intersection between race, class and gender and is as good an argument for separatism as I have read. I would thoroughly recommend this book as required reading for any feminist.
One person found this helpful
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Kiana Minkie
5.0 out of 5 stars Every woman should read this before they try and explain feminism
Reviewed in Germany on April 4, 2020
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If you call yourself a feminist, you should probably read this book. It provides a historical context and a thoroughness of thought that much of the modern 'outrage' culture lacks.
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