Rosalind Miles

Presents the history of the world from a feminine point of view, discussing women's roles in the history and development of the world.

The Women's History of the World

Who Cooked the Last Supper?

Remarkable for its time, I think, and certainly a very witty, compelling read. Miles has a knack for humor which she contrasts at times with unsettling and brutal honesty. I enjoy her style, but many of the claims made within seem spurious, and modern feminist readers (particularly those coming from a transfeminist or non-western perspective) may find her critique lacking.

To start, the last third of the book gives much less attention to women outside of the west than the parts that came before it, and the attention that Miles did pay to their development is heavily biased against the gains of communist nations.

Additionally, while Miles has much to say about a variety of religions and their role in the oppression of women, she seems to hold a particular vitriol toward Islam... maybe not surprising for an English woman born in 1943. For example, in the section titled 'The Fall of Woman' Miles writes the following regarding the absorption of goddess symbology into patriarchal religions: "All patriarchies, in fact, only succeeded by colonizing, indeed cannibalizing the forms, emblems and sacred objects of the Goddess they were purporting to root out... Of all religions, however, Islam most clearly reveals this hijacking process at work." It's difficult not to read such statements as deliberate racism. In fact, I'm not sure what other interpretation there could be. There are other similar digs towards muslims, but I found this one to be a particularly egregious example.

Finally, you will also likely not be surprised to hear that the language cissexist and, disappointingly, only glances briefly over the history of queer women (in the west). I did not expect a robust transfeminist history from a work published in 1988, but I did expect more than a couple of paragraphs about the history and rights of lesbians (in the west).

I would recommend this book with a fat grain of salt. It's funny, biting, but is sorely lacking as a functional and unbiased history of women's achievements. I will mainly be using this as a jumping off point for further reading.

Serran

Remarkable for its time, I think, and certainly a very witty, compelling read. Miles has a knack for humor which she contrasts at times with unsettling and brutal honesty. I enjoy her style, but many of the claims made within seem spurious, and modern feminist readers (particularly those coming from a transfeminist or non-western perspective) may find her critique lacking.

To start, the last third of the book gives much less attention to women outside of the west than the parts that came before it, and the attention that Miles did pay to their development is heavily biased against the gains of communist nations.

Additionally, while Miles has much to say about a variety of religions and their role in the oppression of women, she seems to hold a particular vitriol toward Islam... maybe not surprising for an English woman born in 1943. For example, in the section titled 'The Fall of Woman' Miles writes the following regarding the absorption of goddess symbology into patriarchal religions: "All patriarchies, in fact, only succeeded by colonizing, indeed cannibalizing the forms, emblems and sacred objects of the Goddess they were purporting to root out... Of all religions, however, Islam most clearly reveals this hijacking process at work." It's difficult not to read such statements as deliberate racism. In fact, I'm not sure what other interpretation there could be. There are other similar digs towards muslims, but I found this one to be a particularly egregious example.

Finally, you will also likely not be surprised to hear that the language cissexist and, disappointingly, only glances briefly over the history of queer women (in the west). I did not expect a robust transfeminist history from a work published in 1988, but I did expect more than a couple of paragraphs about the history and rights of lesbians (in the west).

I would recommend this book with a fat grain of salt. It's funny, biting, but is sorely lacking as a functional and unbiased history of women's achievements. I will mainly be using this as a jumping off point for further reading.

Who Cooked the Last Supper? The Women's History of the World

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