Myths of Male Dominance: Collected Articles on Women Cross-Culturally

“Highly recommended, both as a critically presented state-of-the-art discussion and as an account of how one’s personal/political history informs the process of scientific inquiry.”—Choice

This classic anthropological study debunks the many myths behind the idea of “natural” male superiority. Drawing on extensive historical and cross-cultural research, Eleanor Burke Leacock shows that claims of male superiority are based on carefully constructed myths with no factual historical basis. She also documents numerous historical examples of egalitarian gender relations.

Eleanor Burke Leacock (1922–1987) was well-known for her ethnographic work among primitive societies, and her research is still a formative influence among feminist anthropologists.