Page "Feminist archaeology" Paragraph 3

Joan Gero challenged androcentric explanations of tool-making on several levels.

First, the common assumption that tool-making was almost exclusively associated with men was almost certainly false ; at the least, women were far more likely to produce their own tools as needed in domestic contexts rather than wait for a man to come along and do it for them.

The argument behind this assumption, that men possess greater upper-body strength, was dismissed by Gero, who pointed out physical strength is not an imperative quality in someone skilled at making stone tools.

Additionally, Gero pointed out the great emphasis in research time and money towards studies concerned with the most “ masculine ” of stone tools, such as projectile points, while stone tools likely made and used by women, for example utilized flakes, have been relatively ignored.