In this Book
- Into the Hearts of the Amazons: In Search of a Modern Matriarchy
- Book
- 2006
- Published by: University of Wisconsin Press
Into the Hearts of the Amazons is part rousing travel adventure through a little-known world and part popular ethnography, exploring how Zapotec women earned their legendary status in a remote corner of southern Mexico. To satisfy his curiosity about this culture, Tom DeMott journeyed to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where he discovered a thriving modern-day matriarchy among the people of the Isthmus—a cultural crossroads, breeding ground for rebels, and home to a half-million Zapotecs. DeMott integrated himself into the culture by joining in the rites of spring (where women pelt the men with fruit); by interviewing the women who control the marketplace where men are rarely seen; and by honoring the saints with drink and dance at all-night ceremonies. Evoking these singular women and their culture, DeMott tackles a primal question: What would life be like if women, rather than men, had the advantage?
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- p. ix
- The Blue Mortuary
- pp. 3-17
- The Politician
- pp. 18-21
- Honoring San Vicente
- pp. 22-33
- The Apologist
- pp. 34-36
- The Russian
- pp. 55-57
- Quintessential Isthmus Women
- pp. 58-66
- Vela Zandunga
- pp. 70-88
- The Other City Hall
- pp. 93-98
- The Princess
- pp. 99-103
- Purse Strings
- pp. 104-120
- Tirada de Frutas
- pp. 126-137
- The Radical
- pp. 138-142
- Day of the Dead
- pp. 143-156
- The Italian
- pp. 157-161
- The Journalist
- pp. 173-176
- Marketplace Tehuantepec
- pp. 177-195
- The Filmmaker
- pp. 196-200
- Inventing Santa In
- pp. 201-218
- The Grad Student
- pp. 219-222
- Green Mangos
- pp. 223-235
- The Investigator
- pp. 236-240
- The General’s Daughter
- pp. 241-250
- Bibliography
- pp. 259-262