"This book is a significant contribution. . . . It is encyclopedic, and I believe includes more information, theoretical and factual, than anyone else has ever written on this theme." —Ruby Rohrlich, editor of Women in Search of Utopia: Mavericks and Myth-Makers   From the beginning, myths have told of women who lived apart from men-the Sirens who sang on the Aegean rocks, the Amazons of the Brazilian jungle, the self-reproducing women on islands in Polynesia, to mention only a few. As this theme emerged in her own fiction, Batya Weinbaum became intrigued by its persistence across time and cultures and began tracing it in literature and mythology, as well as in actual locales that are or were said to be islands of women. In this fascinating, interdisciplinary book, she explores how the myth of Amazons has served varying psychological needs in different cultures over time. Weinbaum first analyzes various historical interpretations and uses of the Amazon archetype, some designed to empower women, others created by men to disempower them. She next turns to the original Greek context, in Homer's epics and other aspects of Greek culture, and then traces how Amazons eventually evolved into negative representations of paganism. Moving from Rodriguez de Montalvo's fifteenth-century Sergas de Esplandian, which imagined an island of women in the New World, Weinbaum concludes with revealing fieldwork she conducted on Isla Mujeres (Island of Women) off the Yucatan Peninsula, which included giving birth with the participation of a native Maya midwife.

Islands of Women and Amazons: Representations and Realities

Literature & Fiction

Weinbaum, Batya

History & Criticism

University of Texas Press

"This is an especially comprehensive study of representations of the Amazon myth in various cultures and historical epochs...A particular strength of the book is its examination of how the Amazon myth has been bought, sold, and packaged to U.S. tourists in Mexico and South America, where it has been transformed from something with deep spiritual resonance to something to use as a design on a souvenir T-shirt." --Choice From the beginning, myths have told of women who lived apart from men--the Sirens who sang on the Aegean rocks, the Amazons of the Brazilian jungle, the self-reproducing women on islands in Polynesia, to mention only a few. As this theme emerged in her own fiction, Batya Weinbaum became intrigued by its persistence across time and cultures and began tracing it in literature and mythology, as well as in actual locales that are or were said to be islands of women. In this fascinating, interdisciplinary book, she explores how the myth of Amazons has served varying psychological needs in different cultures over time. Weinbaum first analyzes various historical interpretations and uses of the Amazon archetype, some designed to empower women, others created by men to disempower them. She next turns to the original Greek context, in Homer's epics and other aspects of Greek culture, and then traces how Amazons eventually evolved into negative representations of paganism. Moving from Rodriguez de Montalvo's fifteenth-century Sergas de Esplandian, which imagined an island of women in the New World, Weinbaum concludes with revealing fieldwork she conducted on Isla Mujeres (Island of Women) off the Yucatan Peninsula, which included giving birth with the participation of a native Maya midwife.

History

[Analyzes] economy in 'kin categories' - wife, father, daughter, brother....[Weinbaum] explains better than Marx the roles of each of these individuals within the economic system.--Seventh Sister

The Curious Courtship of Women's Liberation and Social

Politics & Social Sciences

Women's Studies

South End Press

Curious Courtship of Women's Liberation and Socialism

Social Sciences

South End Pr

<p>Weinbaum's "sexual political economy" analyzes the world or work in terms of kinship categories. A classic breakthrough between the family or work divide, this very readable book spells out her original understanding of precisely how the psycho-sexual dynamics of the oedipal family are played out in the patriarchal structure of work.</p>

Pictures of Patriarchy

The Island of Floating Women

LGBTQ+ Books

Clothespin Fever Pr

<p>This book is a selection, in chronological order, of Leslie F. Stone’s stories relevant to the themes of gender and diversity. In addition, I include a transcript of a speech this pioneer American science fiction writer made at Baltcon in 1974, when looking back at her career. As explained in introductions to each story, these documents are relevant to current literary discussions as well as to questions of race, feminism war, and fascism in the 1930s. I assembled the collection with the hope to renew the seriousness with which this writing can be taken as a reflection of the literature and culture created in the space between the two world wars. My intention is for the book to be useful for teaching feminism “in unlikely places,” like in the early days of a genre once thought to be the domain of men; and to those involved in the research and teaching of both the history of science fiction and the interrelations between feminism and popular culture.</p>

„THE CONQUEST OF GOLA” and other stories by Leslie F. Stone

Reference

Words, Language & Grammar

JustFiction Edition

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