Max Dashu, a renowned researcher in suppressed history, discusses her lifelong mission to tell the forgotten history of women and matriarchy. The podcast explores global women's history, the erasure of feminist Matilda Jocelyn Gage, the power of images, and the concept of matriarchy and gender egalitarianism.
Max Dashu emphasizes the importance of teaching through images to challenge societal norms and stereotypes about women's roles and power throughout history.
Max Dashu highlights the need to challenge the patriarchal foundations of academia and engage in interdisciplinary research to uncover hidden histories of women and counter biased narratives perpetuated by colonial ideology and religious institutions.
Deep dives
Exploring Hidden Women's History and Matriarchal Cultures
In this podcast episode, Max Dashu discusses her 51-year journey of studying suppressed women's history, indigenous societies, and matriarchal cultures. She highlights the importance of examining global women's history beyond traditional narratives that often focus on a narrow perspective. Dashu emphasizes the significance of teaching through images to showcase the diverse roles and power of women throughout history, challenging societal norms and stereotypes. She delves into concepts like matrilineality and social motherhood, highlighting societies where kinship through the mother and collective care are central. Dashu also explores the impact of rigid gender roles and the benefits of relaxed gender roles, including greater flexibility, expanded opportunities, and increased well-being within communities.
Uncovering Suppressed Women's History and Overcoming Academic Dogmas
Max Dashu discusses the challenges she faced in academia when researching suppressed women's history. She highlights the patriarchal foundations of academic institutions and the dominance of elite white men in shaping historical narratives. Dashu emphasizes the need to challenge the dogmas and doctrines of academia and engage in interdisciplinary research to uncover hidden histories of women. She emphasizes the importance of assembling massive documentation and evidence to counter established narratives and sheds light on the power of visual evidence, such as images and iconography, in reshaping our understanding of women's roles and power throughout history. Dashu also exposes the role of colonial ideology and religious institutions in perpetuating biased narratives about women's status and contributions in different cultures.
Exploring Matrilineality, Gender Egalitarianism, and Cooperative Societies
Dashu explores various cultural aspects that are characteristic of matrilineal and cooperative societies. She explains the significance of matrilineality, where social identity and belonging are traced through the mother, and how it eliminates the need to authenticate fatherhood, allowing for a more inclusive and communal approach to kinship. Dashu discusses the relaxed gender roles prevalent in these societies, where individuals are not confined to rigid gender expectations, allowing for greater freedom and diversity. She emphasizes the benefits of social motherhood, where caregiving responsibilities are shared among extended kin networks, maximizing survivability and overall well-being. Dashu also highlights the importance of economic resources and common property ownership in fostering cooperative and non-aggressive societies.
Max Dashu has championed the various lost histories of women and championed female-centric civilizations for decades. In part one, Sean Marlon Newcombe and Dawn "Sam" Alden interview Max about her own life story and how and why her mission to tell the forgotten history of women and of matriarchy came about.
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