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Max Dashu debunks Eller's
Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory
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SUMMARYThe deliberately provocative title of Cynthia Eller's book spells out her approach in a nutshell: it's not about history, but ideology. The ideas under fire are the insurgent feminist histories that are overturning assumptions that patriarchy goes back to the earliest times. The author aims to critique the views of what she calls "feminist matriarchalists," but commits the very offense of which she accuses them. History -- detailed, in-depth analysis of historical evidence -- takes a back seat to theory (in this case, of the post-structuralist gender variety) with a scattering of ethnographic notes. Eller enthusiastically joins in the ridicule traditionally directed at matristic historians. Not only is she critical of calling ancient female statuettes "goddesses," she declares that most of them are not even female. In fact, readers learn that there is no such thing as "female," except for the label itself (in a classic postmodernist elevation of "text" over experience). But Eller chooses the label "feminist matriarchalist" for a group that (by her own admission) almost universally rejects it. The Myth considers indigenous women only through the lens of Western anthropology. Eller uses oral histories in the service of a "functionalist" analysis supporting her belief in original patriarchy. She provides no historical perspective on female spheres of power in the Two Thirds World. By jumping from subject to subject, Eller avoids any substantial discussion of history. Authors like Gimbutas and Lerner are barely heard from, and the discussion of Gimbutas, especially, contains serious misrepresentations. Although this book is short on history and long on ideology, its success is assured. An eager audience has already seized upon it as the definitive refutation of the matristic perspective. It's not the last time we'll hear these arguments, so they're worth reading (as long as your blood pressure can take it).
Max Dashu <maxdashu@LMI.com> International Women's Studies since 1970 <www.suppressedhistories.net> |