Women Androgynes and Other Mythical Beasts

by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty

Examines the conception of the relationship between men and women as expressed in the animal symbols and sexual metaphors of Hindu mythology

Genres: Religion, Mythology, Nonfiction, Hinduism, History, Feminism

Hardcover

First published November 15, 1982

About the author

Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (also Wendy Doniger) is the Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago Divinity School, the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, and the Committee on Social Thought. She has taught at the University of Chicago since 1978.

Much of her work is focused on translating, interpreting and comparing elements of Hindu mythology through modern contexts of gender, sexuality and identity. She has been called "one of the most distinguished mythologists of our time". Alluding to her Classical training, she has described herself as "a Sanskritist, indeed a recovering Orientalist" and "an old-fashioned philologist".

Reviews

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

这本书一直在围绕阴阳同体这个形象展开，但我读下来更像是在看一种不断出问题的拼接。神话里的合体看起来是完整的，但基本都能感觉到不对称，男性一直是主体，女性更像被吸收进去的一部分。作者的分析中，有一种mare式的女性形象（类似具有威胁性的女性力量）。当女性不只是被纳入，而是反过来具有主动性和侵入性时，这种融合就会变成一种危险的东西，威胁到原本的秩序。同样还有 male / female androgyne 的区别：男性的合体更多被解释成创造性或神性，而女性的合体反而更容易被写成危险、失衡，甚至是不被接受的。阴阳同体并不稳定统一，而是不断在融合与分裂之间摆动，并且始终带着不对称的权力结构。

[Mariah]

Mpls Central: BL2001.2.O36

[Colin Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wendy Doniger does it again, with more brilliant analysis, comparing Hindu Gods to superheroes.