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Starry Messenger

(32,375 posts)
Sat Sep 27, 2014, 07:06 PM Sep 2014

Is Biology Woman’s Destiny?

Evelyn Reed wrote some of the best anthropological studies on women in prehistory and how family relationships evolved over time. I recommend her book, Woman’s Evolution: From Matriarchal Clan to Patriarchal Family, which is meticulously researched and blows evo psych out of the water. She's a Marxist scientist, but even if that isn't your cup of tea, you will get a lot out of this book.

Anyway, here is a selection from from another of her works, Is Biology Women's Destiny? since Evo Psych has reared its head again on DU.

https://www.marxists.org/archive/reed-evelyn/1971/biology-destiny.htm



<snip>

There are a number of primitive communities scattered around the world where old matriarchal practices and customs survive to a greater or lesser extent. These are usually called “matrilineal” communities because the line of kinship and descent is still traced through the mothers alone. But the matter goes deeper than this. In such regions the father-family is still poorly developed. A man may be recognized as the husband of the mother and yet not be recognized as the father of her children or, if recognized, has only an extremely tenuous connection with them. As this is usually expressed, the children belong to the mother and her kin.

This means that the children belong not only to the mothers but also to the brothers of such a matrilineal community. In other words, the mothers’ brothers, or maternal uncles, still perform the functions of fatherhood for their clan sisters’ children that in patriarchal societies have been taken over by the father for his wife’s children. For this reason such a community is sometimes called “the avunculate.” The term “avunculate” refers to the mother’s brother as the term “patriarch” refers to the father.

These matrilineal communities are survivals from the matriarchal epoch and, however much they have been altered since the patriarchal takeover, testify to the priority of the earlier social system. In fact, by the time anthropology began in the last century, most primitive clans had already become altered in their composition to a certain degree. Pairing couples, or what Morgan called “pairing families,” had made their appearance in communities that had formerly been composed solely of clan mothers and brothers (or sisters and brothers).

But the pairing family, which was still a part of the collectivism maternal clan system, was a totally different kind of family than the patriarchal family which came in with class society. A new man from outside the clan was added to the maternal group-the husband of the woman who became his wife. However, while the husbands participated in providing for their wives and children, so long as the clan system prevailed the husbands remained subordinate and even incidental to the mothers’ brothers. The mothers’ brothers remained the basic economic partners of their clan sisters and guardians of their sisters’ children.

<snip>



This concept of woman having a biological imperative for mating with a provider for her children is bunk. That's not how families were structured, and this is observed in contemporary tribal cultures.

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Is Biology Woman’s Destiny? (Original Post) Starry Messenger Sep 2014 OP
You had me at "Marxist scientist"! JEFF9K Sep 2014 #1
I hope that's a good thing! Starry Messenger Sep 2014 #2
Considering that he just called all women gold diggers in GD LeftyMom Sep 2014 #3
I didn't call all women "gold diggers." JEFF9K Sep 2014 #4
Tell more about what women want, o great expert. LeftyMom Sep 2014 #5
My source is no less an authority than ... JEFF9K Sep 2014 #6
Is this real life? Somebody has a hidden camera to watch my reaction, right? LeftyMom Sep 2014 #7
Ok, so no. Starry Messenger Sep 2014 #8
Very interesting JustAnotherGen Sep 2014 #9
Yay! I think you will love it! Starry Messenger Sep 2014 #10
I'm certainly no expert on the subject but... De Leonist Feb 2015 #11

LeftyMom

(49,212 posts)
3. Considering that he just called all women gold diggers in GD
Sat Sep 27, 2014, 08:34 PM
Sep 2014

I bet his reply is going to be sweet enough to stitch onto a sampler.

JEFF9K

(1,935 posts)
4. I didn't call all women "gold diggers."
Sat Sep 27, 2014, 09:02 PM
Sep 2014

I stated a fact. Men tend to be more attracted to younger women and women tend to be more attracted to wealthy men.

Men have no monopoly on shallowness.

You have evidence to the contrary?

JEFF9K

(1,935 posts)
6. My source is no less an authority than ...
Sat Sep 27, 2014, 09:27 PM
Sep 2014

Parade Magazine's resident genius, Marilyn vos Savant. And she's a woman!

LeftyMom

(49,212 posts)
7. Is this real life? Somebody has a hidden camera to watch my reaction, right?
Sat Sep 27, 2014, 09:35 PM
Sep 2014

This has got to be a social experiment of some sort.

Starry Messenger

(32,375 posts)
8. Ok, so no.
Sun Sep 28, 2014, 03:08 AM
Sep 2014

You're in the Feminist Group, not GD. We have a statement of purpose, I suggest you read it.

Since this is, I believe, your first time posting in here, this is a warning that this is a safe haven group.

Postings that violate the purpose of this group are grounds for blocking from posting in this group.

Starry Messenger

(32,375 posts)
10. Yay! I think you will love it!
Mon Sep 29, 2014, 12:31 PM
Sep 2014

I was just talking with another friend last night who had read it, hopefully we can all spark a revival.

De Leonist

(225 posts)
11. I'm certainly no expert on the subject but...
Wed Feb 4, 2015, 11:39 PM
Feb 2015

Nothing I've read on Evolutionary Psychology seems to suggest Biological Determinism to me.

I mean certainly yes there are plenty of things to be critical of but the idea that how our species' psychology is not in some way impacted by our evolutionary past seems highly unlikely to me. We are after all animals just like a any other.

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