As far as I'm concerned this is all stuff and nonsense gentlemen. It has nothing to do with some left wing, feminist ideology. Some acquaintance with the History of Ideas in Europe might have disabused you of that notion. The "Bon Sauvage" concept developed out of 16th and 17th century European literature and philosophical writings where primitive societies or societies far in the past were idealized and held up as a reproach to the follies and problems of a modern society. However, the writings of Tacitus about the the Germans (De Origine et situ Germanorum) have much the same flavor and motivation. In terms of the later writings, you might want to acquaint yourself with the writings of Bartolome de las Casas. It might prove to mitigate as well the romanticized view of European hunter-gatherers which some people hold, people who then turn around and accuse Gimbutas of romanticizing "Old Europe". Some of you may see a feminist bias in Gimbutas' work, but I see a bias in this idealization of WHG hunters as well.
I try to take a more balanced and, I hope, objective approach. As a humanist, like Montaigne, I suppose my position is that customs differ but people everywhere are prone to violence and cruelty.
See: Of Cannibals
However, it is illogical to say that because all people are capable of cruelty, all people in every place and time are
equally capable of cruelty. A wider acquaintance with cultural anthropology and history would disabuse you of that notion as well. There are indeed societies, even ancient societies, which were less warlike, less violent, or even if warlike, were not prone to ethnic cleansing and genocide. In the case of the position of women, there are many attested societies that even if warlike have matrilineal descent, and where the position of women is not quite so unequal. You may find an example in some Native American societies. Likewise, while "Old Europe" may not have been a place where women "
ruled", I think it's safe to say that a society where worship of a female fertility goddess was prevalent might indeed have been a place where women and perhaps even the counsel of women in certain spheres were more respected. I have no idea why women as a whole should be expected to celebrate the end of that state of affairs.
As to the Indo-Europeans in general, I don't subscribe to the belief that they were necessarily barbaric savages who achieved their prominence in Europe by swimming in an ocean of blood, killing every man and sexually enslaving every woman. I think it was probably more nuanced than that, if just for the fact that it appears there was quite a decline in population in central Europe before they ever arrived. However, there are undoubtedly more than a few "internet warriors" who seem to relish that view of the past. I really don't have much of anything to say to people like that in real life, nor do I wish to...I'll just end with this...that is no different than the butchery and savagery that is being committed by ISIS in the Middle East. To say that it is appalling and disgusting doesn't do it justice. If it happened, it happened, but anyone who is proud of it should be ashamed of himself.
Ed. I didn't see your post, Aberdeen. I see you summarized it all in a much pithier way.
