The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory

The Myth Of Matriarchal Prehistory

The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why An Invented Past Will Not Give Women a Future is a book by Cynthia Eller that seeks to deconstruct the theory of a prehistoric matriarchy. This hypothesis, she says, developed in 19th century scholarship and was taken up by 1970s second wave feminism following Marija Gimbutas. Eller, a professor of Women's Studies and Religious Studies at Montclair State University, argues in the book that this theory is mistaken and its continued defence is harmful to the feminist agenda.

Eller sets out to refute what she describes as feminist matriarchalism as an "ennobling lie". She argues that the feminist archaeology of Marija Gimbutas had a large part in constructing a myth of historical matriarchy by examining Eastern Europe cultures that she asserts, by and large, never really bore any resemblance in character to the alleged universal matriarchy suggested by Gimbutas or Graves. She says that in "actually documented primitive societies" of recent (historical) times, paternity is never ignored and that the sacred status of goddesses does not automatically increase female social status, and believes that this affirms that utopian matriarchy is simply an inversion of antifeminism. Eller concludes that "inventing prehistoric ages in which women and men lived in harmony and equality is a burden that feminists need not, and should not bear." In her view, the "matriarchal myth" tarnishes the feminist movement by leaving it open to accusations of "vacuousness and irrelevance that we cannot afford to court."

Eller's book has been criticised for mischaracterising the theories of Gimbutas and other key anthropologists, labelling them as "matriarchalist" despite most of these scholars rejecting ideas of matriarchy (female rulership) in favour of matrifocal or matrilineal societies. Eller is criticised for downplaying opposing evidence, constructing straw-doll arguments, analysing several scholars' work only through secondary sources, providing scant evidence for her own position that male dominance has until recently been virtually universal, and adopting an openly derisive tone towards feminist spirituality. According to Marler (2003), although Eller's 1993 book Living in the Lap of the Goddess was "hailed by leading spiritual feminists as an illuminating study of the feminist spirituality movement in America", her 2000 book "seeks to eviscerate this same movement".