Fault Lines: A Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Niki reviews Gus DiZerega's latest book, Fault Lines, on the philosophy, politics, and the Divine Feminine in America.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fault Lines: A Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Niki reviews Gus DiZerega's latest book, Fault Lines, on the philosophy, politics, and the Divine Feminine in America.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Witch's Ashram\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-20T21:47:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/files\/2014\/08\/Book-Fault-Lines-Gus-Dizerega-201x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Niki Whiting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Niki Whiting\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/\",\"name\":\"Fault Lines: A Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-20T21:47:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-08-20T21:47:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#\/schema\/person\/f486081486af64b0688ce0074b9f957d\"},\"description\":\"Niki reviews Gus DiZerega's latest book, Fault Lines, on the philosophy, politics, and the Divine Feminine in America.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fault Lines: A Review\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/\",\"name\":\"A Witch's Ashram\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#\/schema\/person\/f486081486af64b0688ce0074b9f957d\",\"name\":\"Niki Whiting\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3bac886fdaf9dbeb576087eb35714a1e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3bac886fdaf9dbeb576087eb35714a1e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Niki Whiting\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/myownashram.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/author\/nwhiting\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fault Lines: A Review","description":"Niki reviews Gus DiZerega's latest book, Fault Lines, on the philosophy, politics, and the Divine Feminine in America.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fault Lines: A Review","og_description":"Niki reviews Gus DiZerega's latest book, Fault Lines, on the philosophy, politics, and the Divine Feminine in America.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/","og_site_name":"A Witch's Ashram","article_published_time":"2014-08-20T21:47:03+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/files\/2014\/08\/Book-Fault-Lines-Gus-Dizerega-201x300.jpg"}],"author":"Niki Whiting","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Niki Whiting","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/","name":"Fault Lines: A Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-08-20T21:47:03+00:00","dateModified":"2014-08-20T21:47:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#\/schema\/person\/f486081486af64b0688ce0074b9f957d"},"description":"Niki reviews Gus DiZerega's latest book, Fault Lines, on the philosophy, politics, and the Divine Feminine in America.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fault Lines: A Review"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/","name":"A Witch's Ashram","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#\/schema\/person\/f486081486af64b0688ce0074b9f957d","name":"Niki Whiting","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3bac886fdaf9dbeb576087eb35714a1e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3bac886fdaf9dbeb576087eb35714a1e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Niki Whiting"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/myownashram.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/author\/nwhiting\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1300"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2227\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":2227,"date":"2014-08-20T13:47:03","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T21:47:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/?p=2227"},"modified":"2014-08-20T13:47:03","modified_gmt":"2014-08-20T21:47:03","slug":"fault-lines-a-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/awitchsashram\/2014\/08\/20\/fault-lines-a-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Fault Lines: A Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"Book-Fault-Lines-Gus-Dizerega\"$ <\/a>Gus DiZerega<\/a> is a scholar and blogger \u2013 in fact, he writes regularly here at Patheos Pagan<\/a>! His most recent book is Fault Lines: The Sixties, the Culture War, and the Return of the Divine Feminine.<\/em> I\u2019ve spent most of my advanced academic career studying the Divine Feminine in one form or another, so I was interested in what a smart, Pagan scholar would have to say about this topic. I am disappointed to report that this book is underwhelming.<\/p>\n

DiZerega spends most of the book detailing how Western philosophy and politics are overwhelmingly masculine in mindset and actively dismiss and denigrate anything considered feminine. This means that reason is considered masculine to the exclusion of intuitive \u2018feminine\u2019 ways of knowing; all things intellectual are privileged over anything \u2018earthy.\u2019 Collaboration and community are dismissed in the face of dominance and the individual. DiZerega chronicles how feminine ways of thinking started to re-emerge in the 1960s and how feminine thinking is the way forward.<\/p>\n

For those whose hackles start to raise at the mention of things \u2018masculine\u2019 and \u2018feminine\u2019 (and I\u2019m one of those, because typically those words are misused), rest assured that DiZerega does not use these terms incorrectly and he specifically avoids any form of gender essentialism<\/a>. In fact, he does a great job succinctly explaining the difference between liberal feminism and cultural feminism. He also demonstrates an understanding of feminist theology in the 20th century.<\/p>\n

Throughout DiZerega has links to larger topics and more writing in an online appendix<\/a>. Some of these appendices are more interesting than the sections in the book and I think his overall argument would have been stronger if he had found a way to integrate these into Fault Lines<\/em>. I\u2019m not sure where the editor was, but the entire project needed better editing.<\/p>\n

I was also disappointed with some of the political jabs and DiZerega\u2019s choice of certain sources. This is not a book to give to your conservative in-laws, as some of the wording is slanted against Republicans in tone. Unfortunately, two of the sources I followed up on did not help. One was a wikipedia source. I expect more from a trained scholar. The second was from a super liberal, satire site. On page 106 DiZerega quotes Larry Summers, from 1991, who was the World Bank\u2019s chief economist at that time. DiZerega takes this quote from a leaked memo cited on a website called \u201cWhirled Bank\u201d. This satire site did not seem like a legitimate source, so I followed up with research of my own and found that the New York Times had reported on this memo in 1992. Apparently, Summers was so aghast at some of the recommendations from another office within the World Bank that he put his name on a sarcastic memo. Whether or not Summers was being sarcastic (and I sure hope he was), it is disingenuous of DiZerega to present this statement as fact.<\/p>\n

I found DiZerega\u2019s book too focused on building his argument \u2013 he only gets to his main idea in chapter 10 and devotes only 30 or so pages to it! I ended the book wondering just what exactly his book was supposed to be about. However, along with his definition of feminism, he expertly explains several other terms that often get muddled about in contemporary discussion. While this book would not be a good choice for classroom use or required reading, several of the paragraphs and sections could be enormously helpful.<\/p>\n

I should be the choir to DiZerega\u2019s preaching. I\u2019m no fan of the Democrats, but I lean far more left than I do right. I support the revitalization of culture and relationship that embracing a divine Feminine can bring. I am the target audience for this book and yet\u2026.. I was bored. Part of the blame is surely due to bad (or no) editing. I didn\u2019t notice any typos, but the book read like a first draft. I hope that these ideas can find a better way to reach their target audience.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"