Riencourt's Sex and Power in History

Welcome to The Manhattan Spengler Salon, where we discuss the big ideas of history, historiography, and civilization.

This evening we will be discussing the chapter "The Patriarchal Revolution", from Sex and Power in History published in 1974 by Amaury de Riencourt. It will be held on Thursday, May 1st, at 7:00PM.

Location: Haraz Coffee House at 210 Spring Street in SoHo.

Length: 9 pages
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hFNRe3JR39q0ScxbQI9tMEIpzDhp68ur/view?usp=drive_link

Discussion questions:

1. How does Riencourt differentiate between masculine and feminine modes of knowledge? Pay attention to his use of I-thou and object-subject relationships.

2. How and why do you think such fundamental shifts in the status of women and men occurred during the Bronze Age?

3. Think of Riencourt's association of men with wind and women with water in mythology. How does he trace these differences with the development of "solarized" religions?

4. Riencourt writes that women in patriarchal societies could "find partial compensation in the fact that some of its more socially prominent members were at times in the position of lording it over great numbers of men." Is this still true today? Or, are we in a completely different age of the status of women?

Once again, put on your oculars and let's dive in!