tiffyboomboom's review against another edition
1.0
Only got through the 1st 20 pages cause the format utterly sucked. They kept bouncing to different scenes, and they only vaguely discussed the subject of the book, that in the beginning, the authors adamantly said they were going to discuss.
chiaragro's review against another edition
2.0
A lot of notions about prehistory, with some "and it was probably actually made by women" without further explanations sprinkled here and there. I had really high hopes for this book but alas...
puzumaki's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. The narrative was talkative instead of straight lecturing, and it emphasizes repeatedly the fact that most of the "truths" we hold about our past are based on recent conceptions of gender roles and society. It questions the image we've painted of our cave painter ancestors and provides a lot of very interesting research on the few remains of our past. It also makes me question why such black and white pictures of prehistory life are still being taught in schools. It's as if we're trying to shape our past into something it may have been but really, it's as likely as Harry Potter being a true story. A fascinating read, especially when written by two men and a woman.
alexctelander's review against another edition
5.0
THE INVISIBLE SEX: UNCOVERING THE TRUE ROLES OF WOMEN IN PREHISTORY BY J. M. ADOVASIO, OLGA SOFFER, AND JAKE PAGE: While the cover of The Invisible Sex indicates an interesting history book with its parchment design and implied cave painting of a woman, many may be deterred by the title and subtitle, thinking this a book championing the role of women only, pointing out chapter by chapter where all the men got it wrong in history. This would be an error on the reader’s part. The Invisible Sex is an amazing book that specifically charts humanity’s ancestry from the day when apes were the most evolved animal around, to some four to six thousand years ago when humanity settled down and began farming. What makes this anthropology book different is that the authors point out the known history on a certain period in time and then reveal the evidence and push forward the correct interpretation of women having a much larger role in civilization than was previously thought. Coupled with the up to date information and discoveries on our ancestry, The Invisible Sex is a great, easy to read book for any anthropology addict, or for anyone who wants to know what really was going on with our species in the last two million years.
Even though it is unclear which author is writing which chapters or parts, Adovasio, Soffer and Page are all working from their specified careers, drawing together their knowledge and talents to present a comprehensive meld of human history. The book begins at our beginning with the discovery of Lucy in Ethiopia and why this was such an important discovery – as to whether Lucy is actually female or just simply a male of small stature, remains unknown. While presenting a complete history of the Homo genus, they also take the reader through a history of the archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians who made the discoveries in the last couple hundred years. It is here that the essence of the book is revealed, as the authors point out the assumed role of men always conducting the hunting and gathering while the women stayed in the hut, looking after the children, and occasionally collecting the odd nut and berry. Coupled with this is the image of the brave and strong cavemen/hunters taking down woolly mammoths and giant sloths and providing the tribe with food for weeks. Coincidentally this ties in with the period in history when all the men were out working, bringing in the money, while the women stayed home, cleaning house and looking after the children.
They reveal the known history and then take it a part and got to the evidence, revealing what it says and what was really the dynamic of this time: that the men in fact weren’t killing woolly mammoths easily, providing all with bountiful meat, because the mammoth was the most feared animal around with its immense size and gouging tusks. In all likelihood the hunting was done in a large group involving women, children and other family members. They were not going after woolly mammoths and sloths, but were more focused on smaller animals like foxes, rabbits and other animals of similar size. Using large nets, they would scare these animals out from hiding, catch them in the nets, club them to death and then have a large supply of meat for some time.
Read the rest of the review here.
For more book reviews, and author interviews, go to BookBanter.
Even though it is unclear which author is writing which chapters or parts, Adovasio, Soffer and Page are all working from their specified careers, drawing together their knowledge and talents to present a comprehensive meld of human history. The book begins at our beginning with the discovery of Lucy in Ethiopia and why this was such an important discovery – as to whether Lucy is actually female or just simply a male of small stature, remains unknown. While presenting a complete history of the Homo genus, they also take the reader through a history of the archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians who made the discoveries in the last couple hundred years. It is here that the essence of the book is revealed, as the authors point out the assumed role of men always conducting the hunting and gathering while the women stayed in the hut, looking after the children, and occasionally collecting the odd nut and berry. Coupled with this is the image of the brave and strong cavemen/hunters taking down woolly mammoths and giant sloths and providing the tribe with food for weeks. Coincidentally this ties in with the period in history when all the men were out working, bringing in the money, while the women stayed home, cleaning house and looking after the children.
They reveal the known history and then take it a part and got to the evidence, revealing what it says and what was really the dynamic of this time: that the men in fact weren’t killing woolly mammoths easily, providing all with bountiful meat, because the mammoth was the most feared animal around with its immense size and gouging tusks. In all likelihood the hunting was done in a large group involving women, children and other family members. They were not going after woolly mammoths and sloths, but were more focused on smaller animals like foxes, rabbits and other animals of similar size. Using large nets, they would scare these animals out from hiding, catch them in the nets, club them to death and then have a large supply of meat for some time.
Read the rest of the review here.
For more book reviews, and author interviews, go to BookBanter.
melbsreads's review against another edition
3.0
Trigger warnings: death, some...uncomfortable...terminology is used to refer to LGBTQIA+ people (the book was published in 2007 and it shows)
Look, this book was FINE. But at the same time, I think the subtitle is misleading in the extreme. Because really, this book is just a popular (i.e. non-academic) discussion of early human ancestors and the social developments of early Homo sapiens. As the authors say early on, there's not a lot of evidence for women in the archaeological record through prehistory, purely because the types of things that women created were largely fibre-based and therefore don't survive unlike the stone tools used by men.
What the book DOES do is argues against the caveman image that is so often presented of early human life, but it doesn't necessarily focus on the true roles of women so much as reminding people that women existed during prehistory. There's a huge chunk of the book that discusses the biology of women's pelvises and how it relates to childbirth and, like...WHY? Sure, mention it in passing, but don't devote page after page to it.
So as a discussion of early human ancestors, it served as a nice refresher to what I learnt in first year archaeology at university. But in terms of actually containing what the subtitle implies? Kiiiiind of a fail.
Look, this book was FINE. But at the same time, I think the subtitle is misleading in the extreme. Because really, this book is just a popular (i.e. non-academic) discussion of early human ancestors and the social developments of early Homo sapiens. As the authors say early on, there's not a lot of evidence for women in the archaeological record through prehistory, purely because the types of things that women created were largely fibre-based and therefore don't survive unlike the stone tools used by men.
What the book DOES do is argues against the caveman image that is so often presented of early human life, but it doesn't necessarily focus on the true roles of women so much as reminding people that women existed during prehistory. There's a huge chunk of the book that discusses the biology of women's pelvises and how it relates to childbirth and, like...WHY? Sure, mention it in passing, but don't devote page after page to it.
So as a discussion of early human ancestors, it served as a nice refresher to what I learnt in first year archaeology at university. But in terms of actually containing what the subtitle implies? Kiiiiind of a fail.
alexctelander's review
5.0
THE INVISIBLE SEX: UNCOVERING THE TRUE ROLES OF WOMEN IN PREHISTORY BY J. M. ADOVASIO, OLGA SOFFER, AND JAKE PAGE: While the cover of The Invisible Sex indicates an interesting history book with its parchment design and implied cave painting of a woman, many may be deterred by the title and subtitle, thinking this a book championing the role of women only, pointing out chapter by chapter where all the men got it wrong in history. This would be an error on the reader’s part. The Invisible Sex is an amazing book that specifically charts humanity’s ancestry from the day when apes were the most evolved animal around, to some four to six thousand years ago when humanity settled down and began farming. What makes this anthropology book different is that the authors point out the known history on a certain period in time and then reveal the evidence and push forward the correct interpretation of women having a much larger role in civilization than was previously thought. Coupled with the up to date information and discoveries on our ancestry, The Invisible Sex is a great, easy to read book for any anthropology addict, or for anyone who wants to know what really was going on with our species in the last two million years.
Even though it is unclear which author is writing which chapters or parts, Adovasio, Soffer and Page are all working from their specified careers, drawing together their knowledge and talents to present a comprehensive meld of human history. The book begins at our beginning with the discovery of Lucy in Ethiopia and why this was such an important discovery – as to whether Lucy is actually female or just simply a male of small stature, remains unknown. While presenting a complete history of the Homo genus, they also take the reader through a history of the archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians who made the discoveries in the last couple hundred years. It is here that the essence of the book is revealed, as the authors point out the assumed role of men always conducting the hunting and gathering while the women stayed in the hut, looking after the children, and occasionally collecting the odd nut and berry. Coupled with this is the image of the brave and strong cavemen/hunters taking down woolly mammoths and giant sloths and providing the tribe with food for weeks. Coincidentally this ties in with the period in history when all the men were out working, bringing in the money, while the women stayed home, cleaning house and looking after the children.
They reveal the known history and then take it a part and got to the evidence, revealing what it says and what was really the dynamic of this time: that the men in fact weren’t killing woolly mammoths easily, providing all with bountiful meat, because the mammoth was the most feared animal around with its immense size and gouging tusks. In all likelihood the hunting was done in a large group involving women, children and other family members. They were not going after woolly mammoths and sloths, but were more focused on smaller animals like foxes, rabbits and other animals of similar size. Using large nets, they would scare these animals out from hiding, catch them in the nets, club them to death and then have a large supply of meat for some time.
Read the rest of the review here.
For more book reviews, and author interviews, go to BookBanter.
Even though it is unclear which author is writing which chapters or parts, Adovasio, Soffer and Page are all working from their specified careers, drawing together their knowledge and talents to present a comprehensive meld of human history. The book begins at our beginning with the discovery of Lucy in Ethiopia and why this was such an important discovery – as to whether Lucy is actually female or just simply a male of small stature, remains unknown. While presenting a complete history of the Homo genus, they also take the reader through a history of the archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians who made the discoveries in the last couple hundred years. It is here that the essence of the book is revealed, as the authors point out the assumed role of men always conducting the hunting and gathering while the women stayed in the hut, looking after the children, and occasionally collecting the odd nut and berry. Coupled with this is the image of the brave and strong cavemen/hunters taking down woolly mammoths and giant sloths and providing the tribe with food for weeks. Coincidentally this ties in with the period in history when all the men were out working, bringing in the money, while the women stayed home, cleaning house and looking after the children.
They reveal the known history and then take it a part and got to the evidence, revealing what it says and what was really the dynamic of this time: that the men in fact weren’t killing woolly mammoths easily, providing all with bountiful meat, because the mammoth was the most feared animal around with its immense size and gouging tusks. In all likelihood the hunting was done in a large group involving women, children and other family members. They were not going after woolly mammoths and sloths, but were more focused on smaller animals like foxes, rabbits and other animals of similar size. Using large nets, they would scare these animals out from hiding, catch them in the nets, club them to death and then have a large supply of meat for some time.
Read the rest of the review here.
For more book reviews, and author interviews, go to BookBanter.
panxa's review
4.0
I was afraid this was going to be a Gimbutas-like version of prehistory, but it is actually a really even-handed review of what we know about prehistoric people, with a particular focus on trying to suss out things about females and women (they make a distinction between biological sex and cultural gender).
More...