Part 1, pgs. 59-83 Summary and Analysis

A year after her first dream, Sue's awakening is too fragile to reveal but she begins forming a "Feminist Critique" that confronts her with "Patriarchy," the basis for Western civilization, so pervasive that it is as invisible as polluted air. Patriarchy is first of all "Hierarchical," descending from God through males to women, children, and nature (with embedded sub-hierarchies of race, culture, and economics), accepting dominance and dependence as natural. Hierarchy gives rise to "The Great Imbalance," whereby the masculine is valued above the feminine. In tribes where weaving is done by men it enjoys high prestige, while where it is done by women it is low. A woman proposing to a church committee something sees it tabled as unreasonable, but later a male gets it adopted.

Greater value is placed on male experiences than female ones...