When God Was Woman

When God Was a Woman

Merlin Stone (Your name

Creative Writing

May 8 , 2008

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When God Was a Woman

Synopsis

Barnes and Nobles Company in New York published When God Was a Woman , a book written by Merlin Stone , in 1976 . Merlin Stone , the author is a sculptor and professor of art and art history . She became interested in HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Archaeology " \o "Archaeology archaeology and ancient religions from her study of ancient art . She

taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo . From 1958 to 1967 , she worked as a sculptor , exhibiting widely and executing numerous commissions

Stone states her thesis in the introduction . She postulates that a prehistoric HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Matriarchy " \o "Matriarchy " matriarchy was destroyed by the patriarchal Indo-Europeans . She concludes that because of the clearly patriarchal outlook of the Hebrew HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Levites \o "Levites " Levites , finding it "ironic " that "Aryan Nazis " would have exterminated "equally Aryan Jews , alleging HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Misogyny " \o "Misogyny " misogyny or hatred of women and hatred of HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Goddess_worship " \o "Goddess worship goddess worship . She also attempted to connect HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Hitler " \o "Hitler " Hitler 's teachings to the ancient HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Hittites " \o "Hittites " Hittites , member of an ancient Anatolian people whose empire based in Asia Minor during the second millennium largely because of the similarities of the names within HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Israelite " \o "Israelite " Israelite society , which she connects to the later development of HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Christianity " \o "Christianity Christianity

The book is about archeologically documenting the story of the religion of the Goddess known by many names and dominates the Near East and the Middle East . By documenting and changing the way the myth and religious dogmas , an alteration in the women 's role has taken place . She discovers that one of the culture 's greatest frauds has taken its roots during the ancient time- a conspiracy , laid in the Garden of Eden by Adam and Eve themselves

Unfortunately , myths of ancient female dominance invariably highlight women 's failure as rulers and end with men assuming power Anthropologists believe that these myths function as a rationalization of contemporary male dominance . Women may have greater political power in matrilineal societies than in other societies , but this does not imply matriarchy . The universality of male dominance is not , however natural or biological , because the form of , and reasons given for patriarchy differ in most cultures . Through studying the various ways that male dominance is organized and justified , anthropologists have concluded that it is culturally constructed

The book explores legends , temple sites , statues , and rituals of female deities and clergy , and HYPERLINK "http /www .bookrags .com /studyguide-when-god-was-a-woman /chapanal001 .htm l " \t "_top " discovers that what the author has accepted from teachers about sun /moon gods and...