Man Against Being: Body Horror and the Death of Life
Beneath the world-destroying violence of male dominion, a morbid terror churns. Man’s is a Kingdom of Fear, and madness reigns, for what has men so spooked is something they cannot run from: their own bodies.
The ruling fathers have historically reacted to this predicament by scorning biological material reality and chasing after the consolations of domination, delusional transcendence, and, when desperation sets in, revenge against the rejected real world.
Man Against Being traces body horror as the through line that unifies manmade society’s hallmark oppressions and atrocities. Moving from the mind/body separation that is patriarchal doctrine’s starting point to the brutal subjugation of all creatures scapegoated as bad bodies so men can play at being pure minds, from ‘born in the wrong body’ to the transhumanists' dreamt-of ascent into bodiless virtuality.
Drawing on a holistic ecofeminist analysis of male dominion’s cascading devastations, aurora linnea argues with poetic insight that, if men are determined to do away with bodies and biological life, the antidote to patriarchy’s apocalyptic charter must necessarily involve a return to the flesh and blood of matter, a reintegration of body and mind and living earth.
5 NOVEMBER 2024 | ISBN 9781922964120 | Paperback | 320 pages | 152mm x 228mm
Beneath the world-destroying violence of male dominion, a morbid terror churns. Man’s is a Kingdom of Fear, and madness reigns, for what has men so spooked is something they cannot run from: their own bodies.
The ruling fathers have historically reacted to this predicament by scorning biological material reality and chasing after the consolations of domination, delusional transcendence, and, when desperation sets in, revenge against the rejected real world.
Man Against Being traces body horror as the through line that unifies manmade society’s hallmark oppressions and atrocities. Moving from the mind/body separation that is patriarchal doctrine’s starting point to the brutal subjugation of all creatures scapegoated as bad bodies so men can play at being pure minds, from ‘born in the wrong body’ to the transhumanists' dreamt-of ascent into bodiless virtuality.
Drawing on a holistic ecofeminist analysis of male dominion’s cascading devastations, aurora linnea argues with poetic insight that, if men are determined to do away with bodies and biological life, the antidote to patriarchy’s apocalyptic charter must necessarily involve a return to the flesh and blood of matter, a reintegration of body and mind and living earth.
5 NOVEMBER 2024 | ISBN 9781922964120 | Paperback | 320 pages | 152mm x 228mm
Beneath the world-destroying violence of male dominion, a morbid terror churns. Man’s is a Kingdom of Fear, and madness reigns, for what has men so spooked is something they cannot run from: their own bodies.
The ruling fathers have historically reacted to this predicament by scorning biological material reality and chasing after the consolations of domination, delusional transcendence, and, when desperation sets in, revenge against the rejected real world.
Man Against Being traces body horror as the through line that unifies manmade society’s hallmark oppressions and atrocities. Moving from the mind/body separation that is patriarchal doctrine’s starting point to the brutal subjugation of all creatures scapegoated as bad bodies so men can play at being pure minds, from ‘born in the wrong body’ to the transhumanists' dreamt-of ascent into bodiless virtuality.
Drawing on a holistic ecofeminist analysis of male dominion’s cascading devastations, aurora linnea argues with poetic insight that, if men are determined to do away with bodies and biological life, the antidote to patriarchy’s apocalyptic charter must necessarily involve a return to the flesh and blood of matter, a reintegration of body and mind and living earth.
5 NOVEMBER 2024 | ISBN 9781922964120 | Paperback | 320 pages | 152mm x 228mm
Endorsements
aurora linnea had me on the first page, at “men hate life.” Not all individual men, of course, but Man, the Man of Patriarchy. That’s why men should read this spirited challenge to what patriarchy demands of us. Man against Being is provocative, in the best sense, provoking us to ask why the dominant culture seems determined to escape from the limits of the larger living world on which we depend, the limits that make us human. linnea takes readers on a dizzying tour through thousands of years of patriarchal delusions, both sacred and secular. For me, Man against Being is a call to men to make peace—with ourselves, with each other, with women, and with our fears.
—Robert Jensen, Emeritus Professor, School of Journalism and Media, University of Texas at Austin, author of The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for MenThis remarkable book is a passionate, intelligent, and erudite exposition of the continuous age-old attempt at derogation of the female body (and thus of women’s bodily wisdom) and a warning of the future deadly consequences for humans, animals, and the earth if we don’t collectively resist Man’s aspiration for a transhumanist, non-corporeal future.
––Heather Brunskell-Evans, author of Transgender Body Politicsaurora linnea forces Man to bare it all in her expansive, impressively researched and vivid account of patriarchy’s true foundation: fear of body, and so, of life. With breathtaking prose, one is guided through a grim journey from which one cannot help emerge shaken but strangely reinvigorated as well. This must-read book reminds us of the power of Man’s mythology but also – more importantly – its antidote: even more powerful reality.
––Syl Ko, co-author of Aphro-ism: Essays on Pop Culture, Feminism and Black Veganism from Two Sistersaurora linnea weaves a searingly beautiful polemic that painstakingly demystifies the patriarchal delusion of mind/body duality as a sick death cult and argues for a return to embodied intimacy as a path of healing that is ‘alienation's antivenin’. We are our bodies. What is more beautiful, powerful, and mystical than our intimate participation with all planetary life? The poetry of linnea's prose reminds one of Susan Griffin and her unflinching ability to expose patriarchal lies is positively Dworkin-esque. This book is as enlivening as it is enlightening.
––Amy E. Sousa, MA Depth Psychology, author of substack www.theknownheretic.comaurora linnea has issued an urgent call to the women of the world: it is long past time to face the obvious: the men of patriarchy hate life. On page after pounding page, she lets them explain exactly why and how much. Meanwhile, our ravaged planet shows that they mean it. It will take courage to read this book but it will also lend you courage, for Man Against Being is, in the end, a fierce and tender reminder that our animal bodies – like the earth herself – are holy and calling us home.
––Lierre Keith, author of The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and SustainabilityIn beautiful and thought-provoking prose, aurora linnea invites us to examine the destructive power of mind-body dualism and warns against the perils of a ‘post biological future’. Her thesis, that it is ‘Man's culture of rigorous estrangement’ coupled with a consuming death-fear that rationalizes horrors against the body and natural world, warns us against the lionization of the technological above the physical. In the tradition of Susan Griffin, linnea calls for a feminist return to reality vis-a-vis an embrace of the living in defiance of a culture of disembodiment.
––Genevieve Gluck, journalist, co-founder of Reduxx
Reviews
Reader Reviews
Written in brutally poetic, often dense and complex prose, this does much to convey the intertwined, textured viscerality of reality an impressive book. Just not for the faint-hearted. Read the full review.
— Offerings from the Well Spring⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a thoroughly intriguing and in-depth analysis of man's futile quest to escape the limitations of human flesh. In turns disturbing and enthralling, it's one of the most thought-provoking books I've read in years. Read the full review.
—Amazon Reviewer⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The problem has to be named and recognized before it can be solved. I recommend this overview of the problem. Read the full review.
—Amazon Reviewer⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thought provoking without being naval gazing, and unique without being ridiculous. This book has opened my eyes to a depth of feminism I have not previously considered. Read the full review.
—Amazon Reviewer
