I follow the discussions on this forum with interest, but have not been moved
to participate until now. What moves me to write are two things:
1. The goddess culture goes back much further than the 'agrarian' period in
our history. Actually, it was the 'evolution' from a nomadic lifestyle to a
domesticated agrarian society- with its competition for land and the need to
manage population growth - that was the beginning of the patriarchy. Let's
not glorify our agricultural period as something that was particularly good
for women, because it wasn't.
2. If you want examples for a balance of power and cooperation between men and
women, you don't have to go back thousands of years. Check out some of the
Native American tribal systems that were (are?) still functioning even at the
beginning of this century, e.g. the Iroqoi (not sure about the spelling). Our
early feminists drew many of their ideas, inspiration and courage from their
exposure to the role of women in Native American cultures. Why do you think
white men (and 'their' women) worked so hard to eradicate these cultures (and
condemmed their supporters as 'savages')? This continues today with the few
remaining matriarchal societies left in the world.
I totally agree with previous writers on this topic who advocate that our hope
lies in cooperation and a joint consiousness of the Earth's needs. And we
don't have to go back very far to find examples of how we can do that.
All the best
Johanna
