The Mary Daly reader

Utrageous, humorous, inflammatory, Amazonian, intellectual, provocative, controversial, and a discoverer of Feminist word-magic, Mary Daly's influence on Second Wave feminism was enormous. She burst through constraints to articulate new ways of being female and alive. This comprehensive reader offers a vital introduction to the core of Daly's work and the complexities secreted away in the pages of her books. Her major theories Bio-philia, Be-ing as Verb, and the life force within words and major controversies relating to race, transgender identity, and separatism are all covered, and the editors have provided introductions to each selection for context. The text has been crafted to be accessible to a broad readership, without diluting Daly's witty but complicated vocabulary. Begun in collaboration with Daly while she was still alive, and completed after her death in 2010, the chapters in this book will surprise even those who thought they knew her work. They contain highlights from Mary Daly's published works over a forty-year span, including her major books Beyond God the Father, Gyn/Ecology, and Pure Lust, as well as smaller articles and excerpts, with additional contributions from Robin Morgan and Mary E. Hunt. Perfect for those seeking an introduction to this path-breaking feminist thinker, The Mary Daly Reader makes key excerpts from her work accessible to new readers as well as those already familiar with her work who are seeking to access the essence of her thought in a single volume. --

WINDS OF CHANGE (TO 1971). The case against the church -- Christian history : a record of contradictions -- The pedestal peddlars -- The second sex and the seeds of transcendence -- FROM GOD TO BE-ING (1972 -- 1974). The women's movement : an exodus community -- The problem, the purpose, the method -- After the death of God the rather -- Beyond good and evil -- The second coming of women and the antichrist -- The bonds of freedom : sisterhood as antichurch -- Antichurch and the sounds of silence -- The final cause, the future, and the end of the looking glass war -- THE DOUBLE-EDGED LABRYS OF OUTRAGEOUS/OUTRAGED PHILOSOPHY (1975 -- 1984). Preface to Gyn/ecology -- The metapatriarchal journey of exorcism and ecstasy -- Secular S and M -- African genital mutilation : the unspeakable atrocities -- Prelude to the third passage -- Newspeak versus new words -- Sparking : the fire of female friendship -- The dissembly of exorcism -- Daly on Matilda Joslyn Gage -- On Lust and the Lusty -- Metaphors of metabeing -- Beyond the sado-sublime : exorcising archetypes, evoking the archimage -- Restoration and the problem of memory -- Phallic power of absence -- Realizing reason -- The raging rac…