There have been many changes in paleo-anthropology in the past years. New sites and new methods of examining old sites and artifacts have yielded a changed perspective on human development and the role of female hominids. Man the mighty hunter has been displaced by humans the opportunistic scavengers and gatherers. It is unlike, the authors assert, that early humans killed herds of healthy bison, mammoths or tackled cave bears. Stone blades that were believed by earlier scientists to have killed such prey are more likely to have been used to cut meat off the bones of already dead animals. The role of the textile arts: rope and string, basketry, weaving, net-making, mostly in the hands of women, is also explored. Very interesting. However, the authors caution readers to abandon any ides of universal matriarchy or even of universal patriarchy, noting that the construction of gender roles is far more complex.

This book attempts to correct mistaken ideas about prehistoric humans, especially concerning the role of women. In so doing, it's necessary also to correct ideas about the role of men. Overall, it's well written, easy to read, and flows nicely through the narrative. There are a few places where I suspected certain things were added to make the book long enough, particularly the point where the authors include the stories from the Seven Daughters of Eve. These could have been summarized in much less space, but then the book might have been too short for consideration by a publisher, I suppose. There are a couple of other spots that are similarly unnecessary. In addition, there are a couple of occasions where the authors draw some rather complex and definitive conclusions from evidence that doesn't appear adequate to support that conclusion; this is ironic, since that's what they are basically accusing other writers of doing. I also felt some of the attempts to fit findings into their conclusion of egalitarian societies where women weren't necessarily oppressed were a bit labored, given the evidence they had to work with. I felt like they were twisting definitions past the breaking point in some of these cases. It's also a bit annoying whenever the ubiquitous "noble savage" comes shining through, because at some point, the noble savage myth actually ignores the true humanity of the individuals it's trying to build up. Overall, however, it's a good read and I'd recommend it for anyone skeptical enough that they don't automatically believe whoever they last read. ( )

The authors do write based on the assumption that evolution is correct, which is something I also believe. But it isn’t necessary to believe in evolution to learn from this book. It touches base on things like language skills, becoming bipedal, and even the evolution of the birth canal. The authors are great at putting everything into terms that any lay person can understand.



What I liked most about The Invisible Sex is that while it focuses on women, it doesn’t put down men or their role in the process of “becoming human”. They are not ignored and pushed to the side. Their roles, contributions and skills are acknowledged as well. ( )

This very interesting book argues that the role of women in prehistory has been vastly overlooked. Nothing new there--feminists have been pointing that out for decades. What does set "The Invisible Sex" apart from similar offerings in the field is its focus: it doesn't argue that women were also out there making war and hunting mastadon, but rather that women doing traditionally female things--weaving, making pottery, growing plants, indeed raising children--are pretty much responsible for the evolution of modern man. Unfortunately, the book doesn't examine this conclusion nearly as deeply as I would have liked. Part of this is due to its authorship: having three main writers is inevitably going to dilute a book's narrative. Part of it is due to the fact that it's been written for general readership and thus spends quite a bit of time discussing the history of paleoarchaeology. And part of it is due to the fact that there's quite a bit of misdirected answering in the text: the authors are obviously very enthusiastic about their respective fields, but this enthusiasm sometimes translates into long discussions that are tangential at best to the matter at hand. Finally, "The Invisible Sex" suffers from some odd word, phrasing, and tense choices, although this might have been taken care of in the official release (I have an ARC). Still, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in prehistory or women's studies.