General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Where have societies' views of women come from? [View all]chervilant
(8,267 posts)acknowledged their own patriarchal biases in analyses of the origins of power imbalance. In addition to "The Chalice and the Blade," I recommend
~ When God was a Woman (Stone)
~Adam, Eve and the Serpent (Pagels)
~Beyond Power (French)
~The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets (Walker)
~The Creation of Patriarchy (Lerner)
~The Mermaid and the Minotaur (Dinnerstein) (more for info on the pernicious continuation of patriarchy)
~In a Different Voice (Gilligan) (more for perspective of how patriarchy has skewed much of our social research)
Power Imbalance -- patriarchy, at present -- is an arbitrary socio-political construct, one that we CAN change. Lerner has a thorough discussion of the origins of patriarchy, and she fully acknowledges our tendency to reach conclusions without awareness of our own filters.