Mathilde Vaerting (10 January 1884,

Messingen Messingen is a municipality in the Emsland district, in Lower Saxony, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ...

– 6 May 1977,

Schönau im Schwarzwald Schönau im Schwarzwald is a town in the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Black Forest, on the river Wiese, northeast of Basel, Switzerland, and south of Freiburg. Mayors * 1945–1946: Albert Gutm ...

) was a German feminist and writer on

matriarchy Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general ...

. Vaerting's ''A New Basis for the Psychology of Man and Woman'' (1921) explained

gender role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...

differences functionally rather than biologically, criticising most previous studies of gender as based on "a kind of unquestioned association of men with dominance and women with subordination". In 1923 the Social Democratic government of

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

appointed her to a chair of education at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

.Peter J. Davies, ''Myth, matriarchy and modernity: Johann Jakob Bachofen in German culture'', pp140-1

Works

* ''Neubegründung der Psychologie von Mann und Weib: Die weibliche Eigenart im Männerstaat und die männliche Eigenart im Frauenstaat'', 1921. Translated by

Cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

and

Eden Paul Maurice Eden Paul (27 September 1865, Sturminster Marshall – 1 December 1944) was a British socialist activist, physician, writer and translator.'Paul, Maurice Eden' in ''Who Was Who'' Early life Paul was the younger son of the publisher Charl ...

as ''The dominant sex; a study in the sociology of sex differentiation'', New York, George H. Doran Co., 923br>Etext online
at the

University of Virginia Library The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective adm ...

References

1884 births 1977 deaths German feminists Academic staff of the University of Jena German women writers {{Germany-activist-stub