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The Position of Woman in Primitive Society: A Study of the Matriarchy cover

The Position of Woman in Primitive Society: A Study of the Matriarchy

Chapter 40: THE TRUTH ABOUT WOMAN
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About This Book

This work examines the role of women in early societies, focusing on the concept of matriarchy and the historical significance of maternal authority. It explores the transition from matriarchal to patriarchal structures, analyzing various cultures, including American Indians and the Khasis, to illustrate the prevalence of maternal family systems. The text discusses the implications of these structures on social organization, property rights, and the evolution of gender roles. It also reflects on the modern women's movement, emphasizing the need for women to reclaim their historical positions and rights, while navigating the complexities of societal change and the responsibilities that come with newfound freedoms.

Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

THE TRUTH ABOUT WOMAN

By C. GASQUOINE HARTLEY
(Mrs. Walter Gallichan)

Fourth Edition 7s. 6d. net

SOME PRESS OPINIONS

The best written and the most profitable of the many recent books upon the woman’s movement. It is distinguished alike by the scope of its learning, the skilful way in which evidence is marshalled, and, above all, by the independence of thought and temper brought to the interpretation of the modern issues.... The discussion of sex differences and of the social problems which spring therefrom shows not only wide and deep personal acquaintance with modern men and women, but a singular freedom from some of the squeamishness of thought and feeling which hampers most discussion ... an exceedingly important contribution to the most difficult problem of our and every other time.”—J. A. Hobson in The Manchester Guardian.

The book shows a fearless intellectual honesty and a deep sympathy and tolerance; it is the work of a serious student and of a woman who knows life as well as libraries.... The chapter on ‘Sexual Differences in Mind’ is absorbingly interesting, and based on the latest research. She writes finely and truly on the absurd and indecent cruelty of penalising divorce; on the cherished superstition of feminine passivity in love, and the origin of the chastity taboo on women with its waste of life and love. She even has a sane and humane chapter on prostitution, recognising the complexity of its causes, and the kindness and generosity of these scapegoat women to one another, as well as their erotic insensibility. The book should be read by all educated men and women. It will probably be greeted with screams of denunciation from those persons whose hostility forms a hall-mark of mental honesty and social value.”—The English Review.

“We very heartily commend this remarkable book.... Every chapter abounds in challenges to thought, and we must thank a woman who has dared and cared to think and dared to say.”—The Pall Mall Gazette.

“One of the most thoughtful books about women I have yet read.... The book is certainly of an advanced feminism, yet the author is found most strongly on the side of marriage, of love, of women’s femininity as their strength; in fact, of all the things which shallow observers suppose the woman movement is actively denying.”—Truth.

“Sane, sound, and well reasoned ... she has more capacity than any other woman writer of the kind we have yet come across for regarding all questions of sex from the man’s point of view.”—Glasgow Herald.

EVELEIGH NASH, 36 King Street, Covent Garden, London, W.C.