The Creation of Patriarchy - Gerda Lerner

This post has 9 comments with rating of 5/59

• 
  stenejohann
  August 2nd, 2023
  

  

  “A major new book” is a bit misleading for a book that was published in 1986.
  But many thanks for the upload!

  The Creation of Patriarchy - Gerda Lerner
• 
  Hogweed
  August 3rd, 2023
  

  Patriarchy goes back to the beginnings of humans, when men would risk their lives hunting for food while the women would properly stay home and raise the kids. They would also perform many useful things like gathering local foods, put clothing together and other things, but men did the hardest work and took care and protected the women. Been that way for 250,000 years. Its because of this patriarchy that humans are still a species today.
  The idea that women no longer fill the roles of having children and raising them means humans likely wont be around too much longer. Maybe that’s a good thing.

  The Creation of Patriarchy - Gerda Lerner
• 
  okdoomer
  August 3rd, 2023
  

  

  @Hogweed as per this book and others, the archeological evidence suggests that very distinct roles for men and women didn’t start to appear until after the appearance of non-nomadic, agriculture-based society between 5000 and 8000 years ago (depending on your source). Prior to that, in the era of hunter-gatherer society it does not appear that women and men had as nearly as distinct roles, with men and women both hunting and gathering together, nor did they tend to form distinct family units within the band they lived in. Life was so different its hard for us to imagine today.

  There is also a huge amount of variance from region to region, but as a general average the emergence of strongly distinct roles of men and women, and the rule of men in particular only occurs after agricultural settlement in the last few thousands years, at least in the middle east/europe/north africa region.

  The Creation of Patriarchy - Gerda Lerner
• 
  erouting
  August 3rd, 2023
  

  

  @okdoomer,

  Exactly correct.

  I focused on pre-contact societies in the 18th-19th centuries for a bit because that was the best historical time period to find extant records of pre-agrarian social structures recorded in a semi-scientific manner. North America was diverse, but in most of Australia that I could find on site interviews for, men and women both hunted, sex segregation existed and co-ed activities were limited to inter-tribal parties, some rituals relating to death and, obviously, reproduction. The only thing that was sometimes called a men only activity was going on raids of neighboring tribes. Because men were the only ones who thought that was a fun thing to do, not because women weren’t capable of it. Defense, by contrast, was a shared activity.

  This idea that women couldn’t hunt and had to stay home is a peculiar notion given that a man stabbing something with a pointed stick is not much more effective than a woman stabbing something with a pointed stick. People have an abysmal understanding of physics. The point of a point on a stick is that the PSI at that point is enormous. A bit more or less upper body strength is irrelevant. Even more so with guns in the modern world.

  The best operating theory I’ve found for modern male societal dominance is that agrarian men finally understood where kids came from and then declared an ownership interest in both children and the woman who gave birth to them, which then mandated that women, as property, be protected from other men, which was hard to accomplish if women were out killing deer and birds and having sex with men in other tribes during inter-tribal gatherings. So, women became home bound chattel.

  This may or may not be correct, it’s just the most credible theory I’ve come across.

  The Creation of Patriarchy - Gerda Lerner
• 
  HumeGiulia
  August 3rd, 2023
  

  Thank you vry much

  The Creation of Patriarchy - Gerda Lerner
• 
  caesar963
  August 3rd, 2023
  

  

  “raids of neighboring tribes” - We still hold to these customs somewhat in Co. Kerry.
  Regarding prehistory, the elderly & the female cohort kept the group going in leaner times by gathering food & catching smaller animals. The hunts wouldn’t always be successful (lots of lean times).
  On hunting specifically, there would be considerations of physical robustness, stamina & speed.
  It’s reckoned that the reason adolescent males engage in risky, foolhardy, showy behaviour is that they were more often used as perimeter guards. They were conditioned to hazard themselves for the larger group. This became a sexually-rewarded, attractive mode of conduct, for young ‘uns, in the main.

  On gendered conduct, healthcare seems to have been female, while shamanism was male (the male spirit might not be as easily metaphysically overpowered).
  Often, inter-tribal conflict would concern territorial disputes, access to zones of hunting, “recruiting” lady members, fear of attack by the other, etc. It wouldn’t just be for entertainment purposes, due to the costly nature of conflict.

  However, this is all by way of aside. The real issue is the familial tradeoff. The male/female/child structure is the point. Families are the most effective proximate social unit for the safeguarding & raising of children. It would’ve taken a village, especially back then, but people & animals care most for their own. We’d die for our kids. Strength for hunting & conflict readiness (protection of family), setting aside the best cut for the male family member, in order to maintain optimum hunting fitness, seems to be a prime consideration.
  All the fittest lads would’ve been away on the hunt, but it’s reckoned that 10% of males raise progeny which they take to be their own.
  However, you’re more of a prehistory guy than I would be, so apologies for my gallimaufry of troglodytic stereotypes. I blame it all on Jean M. Auel, y’know.

  The Creation of Patriarchy - Gerda Lerner
• 
  koloko
  August 3rd, 2023
  

  When people today say “this is how things have always been,” they are trying to manipulate you.

  Most men in patriarchal societies don’t understand women because these societies/beliefs were created by old, impotent men who hate women because they can no longer have sex with them.

  So they created this ridiculous “men are tough and should be killing things while women should be cooking them dinner” garbage, because when your little friend no longer works, but you can still kill things, of course, you’re gonna say violence is what makes a man…

  When you make love to a woman (or another man - a lot of these patriarchy-creators were gay and couldn’t accept it), you forget all about trying to show everyone how tough you are.

  Patriarchal cultures are created by old, impotent men and if you don’t agree, you’re probably an old, impotent man or a young virgin.

  The Creation of Patriarchy - Gerda Lerner
• 
  anasta78
  January 29th, 2024
  

  Could anyone kindly seed it, please?

  The Creation of Patriarchy - Gerda Lerner
• 
  truestoryy
  April 21st, 2026
  

  Something somewhere at some point went very very wrong. I might read it, but honestly. I’d like a book with solutions, rather than origins. Control of population might just be it. I need a book about that. Real solutions.

  The Creation of Patriarchy - Gerda Lerner

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