Mary Daly, born in 1928, ex-nun, PhD in Theology, PhD in Philosophy: her books were life-changing for me, as much as were Castaneda's or Alan Watts', or any of the cutting-edge writers of the 70's. But caution ... she is a "radical feminist". The books aren't the glitzy feminism of Gloria Steinham or Germaine Greer: they are sober, focused, scholarly treatises on the theological, cultural subjects of which she wrote.
Beyond God the Father is an in depth analysis of the patriarchy of the catholic church, and how it usurped/annihilated the espoused, divine feminine through the disempowerment of its feminine figures. (Mary, for example.)
Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism is an exploration of cultural practices which have existed all over the world, which are so "normalized" as to be taken for granted, and not seen for the 'atrocities' that they are. Okay, this is rough stuff, and I don't concur with her ultimate conclusion: that women need a separate state. But an education it was indeed. Her table of contents:
Preface
Introduction
The Metapatriarchal Journey of Exorcism and Ecstasy
The First Passage
Processions
Prelude to The First Passage
Chapter One
Deadly Deception: Mystification through Myth
Chapter Two
Dismemberment by Christian and Postchristian Myth
The Second Passage
The Sado-Ritual Syndrome: The Re-enactment of Goddess Murder
Prelude to The Second Passage
Chapter Three
Indian Suttee: The Ultimate Consummation of Marriage
Chapter Four
Chinese Footbinding: On Footnoting the Three-Inch "Lotus Hooks"
Chapter Five
African Genital Mutilation: The Unspeakable Atrocities
Chapter Six
European Witchburnings: Purifying the Body of Christ
Chapter Seven
American Gynecology: Gynocide by the Holy Ghosts of Medicine and Therapy
Conclusion and Afterword to Chapter Seven
Nazi Medicine and American Gynecology: A Torture Cross-Cultural Comparison
The Third Passage
Gyn/Ecology: Spinning New Time/Space
Prelude to the Third Passage
Chapter Eight
Spooking: Exorcism, Escape, and Enspiriting Process
Chapter Nine
Sparking: The Fire of Female Friendship
Chapter Ten
Spinning: Cosmic Tapestries
This book was near-impossible to find in the early 90's, but it seems it has been reissued. Still, Amazon only has 112 copies... so I call that rare.
Beyond God the Father (which I seem to recall was her doctoral dissertation) is even rarer.
