Prehistoric gender. An instrumentalized narrative
Résumé
The chapter analyzes how contemporary debates about prehistory tend to instrumentalize the issue of gender. It recalls the lack of scientific basis for the theory of primitive matriarchy, as well as how this speculation was used to support both feminist and reactionary perspectives. It also seeks to identify the methodological biases that plague many contemporary approaches advocating the idea of an absence of gendered social division in the Paleolithic era. Drawing on social anthropology, the text points out that gender division (particularly in terms of tasks) is a universal feature of all known societies and a key factor in male domination. However, just as the matriarchy of the past would not in itself have guaranteed the success of current feminist aspirations, the antiquity of male domination does not mean that it cannot come to an end. The chapter calls for a rigorous scientific approach, free from the ideological projections, and emphasizes that the feminist struggle can rely on the real social dynamics without resorting to (pre)historical fictions.
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Fait partie de hal-05365602 Ouvrage Anne Augereau, Christophe Darmangeat. The Archaeological Challenge of Gender. Routledge; Routledge, 1, 2025, ⟨10.4324/9781003675402⟩. ⟨hal-05365602⟩