http://www.debunker.com/texts/goddess.html
[WS:] Fabrications of "ideal societies" by scholars, especially anthropologists, is nothing new. Such utopias serve very useful purpose in current political debates. What strikes me, however, are two things.
First is the interpretation of ancient symbols from the modern vantage point. There were numerous representations of feminine figures, deities etc. in historical culture, but that is not an indicator of power that women held in those societies. For example, the walls of Angkor temples, yet Khmer society is extremely patriarchal and women have no more power than slaves.
Second is the ritualistic bashing of Western societies, especially in pomo ruminations and gender or ethnic "studies" passing for academic disciplines nowadays. It is bigotry turned inwards, initially amusing, but afterwards annoying and disingenuous. I am yet to see a non-Western society that give women the same amount of legal protection and social, economic, and political opportunity as Western societies on average do.
Wojtek