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The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule
Audible Audiobook
– Unabridged
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2023
A WATERSTONES BOOK OF YEAR FOR POLITICS 2023
‘I learned something new on every page of this totally essential book’ Sathnam Sanghera
‘By thinking about gendered inequality as rooted in something unalterable within us, we fail to see it for what it is: something more fragile that has had to be constantly remade and reasserted.’
In this bold and radical book, award-winning science journalist Angela Saini goes in search of the true roots of gendered oppression, uncovering a complex history of how male domination became embedded in societies and spread across the globe from prehistory into the present.
Travelling to the world’s earliest known human settlements, analysing the latest research findings in science and archaeology, and tracing cultural and political histories from the Americas to Asia, she overturns simplistic universal theories to show that what patriarchy is and how far it goes back really depends on where you are.
Despite the push back against sexism and exploitation in our own time, even revolutionary efforts to bring about equality have often ended in failure and backlash. Saini ends by asking what part we all play – women included – in keeping patriarchal structures alive, and why we need to look beyond the old narratives to understand why it persists in the present.
- Listening Length10 hours and 25 minutes
- Audible release date2 Mar. 2023
- LanguageEnglish
- ASINB0BRNKWTLZ
- VersionUnabridged
- Program TypeAudiobook
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Product details
Listening Length | 10 hours and 25 minutes |
---|---|
Author | Angela Saini |
Narrator | Sohm Kapila |
Whispersync for Voice | Ready |
Audible.co.uk Release Date | 02 March 2023 |
Publisher | Fourth Estate |
Program Type | Audiobook |
Version | Unabridged |
Language | English |
ASIN | B0BRNKWTLZ |
Best Sellers Rank | 24,798 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 41 in Women History 131 in Gender Studies (Audible Books & Originals) 266 in Women in History |
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Top reviews from United Kingdom
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 September 2024Great product and excellent service
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 December 2024This books frames this complex topic in a completely different way and questions assumptions about the world.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 January 2024This is a fascinating & thorough book - yet I don't think it solves the central problem: why is patriarchy so strong & getting stronger? Why do so many women support patriarchy in so many ways? Why aren't we more like bonobos?
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 March 2023A fantastic read. Saini’s book are always incredibly well researched, nuanced and thoughtful and this is no different. She never shies away from complexity and you are always left thinking about what she’s has said for days.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 April 2024A thoroughly researched and interesting book. Whilst the answer is not simple, her discussion around the history of the development of the patriarchs is extremely engaging. Lots of food for thought!
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 April 2024This book is such a detailed and rich account of the many origins of patriarchy throughout time and culture. Such a fantastic read!!
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 August 2023This is a heavily researched book with a lot of facts and figures but it is also a highly readable book. Ms Saini has shown how to educate yet entertain while at times leaving me aghast. What is it that some men are so afraid of? I say some men because the book has several stories of matrilinear cultures and their attitudes are fascinating.
The book starts in prehistory and comes up to the present day. I learned loads and had fun doing so. I didn’t know that in Russia, women had full equality with men in 1917 and in 1920 Russia became the first country in the world to legalise abortion. But women’s rights in Russia are fewer now then then. America used that Russian model to encourage their women to be different to the Russians and stay home and find fulfilment as the homemaker. It’s also worth noting that the Russian model may have encouraged women to work but it still expected them to be responsible for housework and childcare - and the men were paid more.
The chapter on Iran is shocking and heartbreaking and I’d no idea about the executions of female politicians. One Iranian woman, Fatema Mernissi, asked why ‘men use ancient history, tradition or an unchanging faith to justify circumscribing women’s lives, and defining what is acceptable. Yet women cannot bend the past and traditions to have freedom or greater rights.’ There is so much pain in these chapters.
Ms Saini says that "Patriarchy as a single phenomenon doesn’t really exist then. There are instead, more accurately, multiple patriarchies, formed by threads subtly woven together through different cultures in their own way, working with local power structures and existing systems of inequalities."
The author does an excellent job of unpicking some of those threads and leading us through the power labyrinths which protect the men at the top. The book is a real eye opener and deserves to be widely read.
I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley.
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 July 2024it was painful to wade through this book, it was so dry, although it did improve towards the end.
Top reviews from other countries
- TAD-TOReviewed in Canada on 27 December 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars An important work
The author provides a well-documented account of how societies screw themselves up by trying to keep women down.
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in the United States on 19 March 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliantly written, even-handed treatment of a complex topic
For anyone who has wondered how patriarchy developed, all over the world and throughout time, this is the book to read. Meticulously researched, clearly and engagingly written, this is a book I will be gifting to friends and family. I love that I can share it with the men in my life, because the telling of history is so nuanced and fair. As a science writer, her tone is neutral and factual, and as a human being she extends benefit of the doubt where appropriate, and the book ends with optimism. Saini has made a hugely important contribution to our understanding of patriarchy, and also to our ability to talk about it in our personal lives.
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KaatjeReviewed in the Netherlands on 4 November 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars vrouwen, mannen en geschiedenis
Te kort - en toch een genuanceerd overzicht van wat we weten over de geschiedenis van het patriarchaat - en hoe de huidige situatie niet een historische vanzelfsprekendheid is.
- PunamReviewed in India on 30 November 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Patriachy Mysoginy Instuttionalised in cultures Marriages Religions and Communities?
This is the Best Book which tries to find out about the Universal question which came into minds of 50 percent of Human Population i.e How One Gender Became so Dominant over another? She Read And Travelled to historical sites Talked to Researchers of different fields and Gave us the Conclusion which is Slavery ! Historically Gathering Power means Gathering People so Power Hungry Males used to capture women and turn them into Wives and Concubines, Domestic Unpaid Labour is Modern Age Slavery Many Matriachal cultures in the past got destroyed by violent attacks of foreign Men . However the Problem of Patriachy was never Unilinear it's always tried to restablished by current Political and Religious powers
- Sue HoggReviewed in Australia on 25 July 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and balanced
I really enjoyed this book, it was well written, authoritative and well balanced in its presentation of the history of Patriarchy. I am an older white male who started work when young women were required to resign from many jobs when they either became engaged or married. I was a manager during affirmative action and the commencement of maternity leave, as well as experiencing the need for flexibility towards new mothers returning to work. So I have experienced big changes in the work experience and life experiences of women since the 1960s.
However, this book goes much further than this. It explores whether society has always been structured in a patriarchal manner from ancient history through to some modern day experiences. Was patriarchy always a given or did some societies structure along matriarchal or more equal roles between men and women? The author examines and argues both sides of available evidence before presenting a balanced assessment of the evidence. Very well worth reading and highly recommended.