The Sexes in Science and History

In this revised second edition of her first book "The evolution of woman" (1894), subtitled "An inquiry into the dogma of woman's inferiority to man", Eliza Burt Gamble uses Darwin's theory of evolution and other scientific information to compare the development of the male and female organisms and describe their differences. Introducing the role of the woman in prehistoric society, we see how that changed through the course of history, from evidence both in less advanced tribes and in civilized historic societies, to the marked progress in the social and economic conditions of women in the time this edition was published (1916). - Summary by Rapunzelina (9 hr 28 min)

Chapters

Preface	7:27	Read by Rapunzelina
Development of the Organism	16:13	Read by Rapunzelina
The Origin of Sex Differences	30:15	Read by Rapunzelina
Male Organic Defects	40:56	Read by Rapunzelina
The Development of the Social Instincts and the Moral Sense	15:42	Read by Rapunzelina
The Supremacy of the Male	29:02	Read by Rapunzelina
Method of Investigation	12:04	Read by Rapunzelina
The Relation of the Sexes among Early Mankind	24:13	Read by Rapunzelina
The Gens - Women under Gentile Institutions	50:00	Read by Rapunzelina
The Origin of Marriage	1:02:36	Read by Rapunzelina
The Mother-Right	16:53	Read by Rapunzelina
Theories to Explain Wife-Capture	34:51	Read by Rapunzelina
Early Historic Society Founded on the Gens	38:39	Read by Rapunzelina
Women in Early Historic Times	24:03	Read by Rapunzelina
Ancient Sparta	45:18	Read by Rapunzelina
Athenian Women	40:14	Read by Rapunzelina
Roman Law, Roman Women, and Christianity	28:58	Read by Rapunzelina
The Renaissance	18:46	Read by Rapunzelina
Conclusion	32:21	Read by Rapunzelina

Reviews

(5 stars)

m. p.

This book is fundamental (yet forgotten and perhaps intentionally not spoken of to the wider audience) in understanding how we were led to the institution of marriage and the consequential loss of inequality between the sexes. In the first social organization structures (gens/community life) land ownership and establishing one's power over another didn't really exist. As these communities and society evolved, a necessary evil occurred which entailed the subjugation of women as a wife. This was how men could be privileged with a view to: secure their line of succession and control childbirth. The way I understand it, after listening to EBG's is: men were able to gain the upper hand because the cultural norm and so societal expectations were changing, corruption was brewing and egoism substituted peaceful coexistence where woman (mother) played a vital role. When men started exercising their physical power over women, the world started its downfall and at the same time its progress. How tragic and unfair.

Great

(5 stars)

David

I was just listening enraptured with the depth of discussion. When I first started listening I thought it would be of some sort of feminist complaint against men. It wasn't though it was a perspective on female contributions, and hindered institutions that stop progress for everyone.