Androcentrism

Since time immemorial, men have assumed superior innate qualities which have justified them in exerting power over the other sex right up to the twentieth century. The last few years have seen the emergence of a new literary genre: to show that despite this, women have managed to become outstanding writers, artists, scientists, explorers, rulers and politicians. Of such books, none discusses a fundamental question: is the supposed male superiority biological, or has it arisen for some other reason over the course of time? This is the issue that Androcentrism: The Ascendancy of Man addresses.The stronger physique of males may have given Palaeolithic man a feeling of superiority, but the two sexes probably lived in fairly gender-neutral, or even matriarchal, groups right up to the end of the Neolithic Age. Charles Pasternak argues that it was the emergence of hierarchies, like chiefdom, that largely sparked androcentrism. It became established as villages grew into towns, with the ownership of property as an important ingredient, during the Bronze Age. While the Mediaeval Period was a time of slight respite for women, the Age of Enlightenment in Europe did not bolster this trend; it reversed it. Not until the latter half of the nineteenth century was androcentrism beginning to be seriously questioned, but significant change happened only after World War I. Today androcentrism has virtually disappeared from most parts of the world. It was just a cultural blip, albeit one that lasted over 5,000 years.Contents: AcknowledgementsAbout the AuthorPrologueScience:Genes and Their Expression: The 'Female' BrainCulture:Stirrings: The Neolithic AgeArrival: The Bronze Age and Early CivilisationsMaintenance: Classical Age CivilisationsEasing: The Middle AgesResumption: Enlightenment and HypocrisyDecline: The Twentieth CenturyPrimitive Societies in Modern TimesEpilogueBibliographyIndexReadership: General readers and academics interested in Anthropology, Gender Issues, and History of Mankind.
Androcentrism;Patriarchy;Gender Differences;Human Brain;Neolithic Age;Bronze Age;Classical Age;Enlightenment;Primitive Societies;Anthropology'Why is it that women across the world are still faced with the task of shattering various glass ceilings? For the simple reason that, allegedly, their brains are smaller than men's so that strive as they might they will never gain true equality with the other sex. In this short but wide-ranging book Professor Pasternak exposes once and for all the fallacies of this myth. He introduces us to societies across the world where there has been true equality between the sexes and even shows us times when matriarchy has flourished. The inherent superiority of the male brain proves to be a short-lived fantasy.' — Henrietta Leyser FRHistSEmeritus Fellow, University of Oxford, UK 'Charles Darwin looked at the descent of man. Jacob Bronowski looked at the ascent of man. But what of the women? This is where Charles Pasternak comes in with his brilliant book, Androcentrism, which combines anthropology, biology and cultural history to show how there have always been plenty of first-class females in society. We visit the Neolithic Age, the Bronze Age, the Age of Enlightenment — and everywhere women are seen to display fortitude and independence of action, often showing themselves to be more intellectually and morally capable than the menfolk, who busy themselves acquiring property, thinking up misogynistic laws and being belligerent. Kingsley Amis once said that if men knew what women were really thinking and doing behind their tone and expressions, 'you could destroy the world.' Charles Pasternak takes us closer to this apocalypse.' — Roger LewisThe Sunday Telegraph
'With this meticulously researched volume, Dr Pasternak courageously tackles a central question that has challenged many of us involved in the history of gender studies: How and why have many societies tended toward male domination? Although there is no single explanation, with such a comprehensive and timely review, this study helps us gain a better understanding of the issues and steers us away from mistaken conclusions. Bravo for an important contribution to this central and complex issue.' — Diane LeBowProfessor Emerita of Women Studies, Cañada College, USA
Key Features:
First book on androcentrism that provides scientific and historical analysis of the causes of the supposed male superiority over women