As I've noted more than once, conflating feminist rhetoric with an academic look at the issues with a male led dominance based culture doesn't necessarily compute. There is certainly overlap, but it's better to not come from your clear reactions to the former when trying to understand the latter. Eisler doesn't even use the term patriarchy perhaps because it does tend to muddy the waters with too much baggage.

Whether you ultimately end up agreeing with Eisler (and there are some who don't) at least you will have a much more substantive idea of what people like Elle are talking about when describing the properties and issues with a dominance-based hierarchy system - something that is about much more than male-female power dynamics.

Just keep in mind that there is plenty within the hard sciences that is not entirely agreed upon - for example, the nature and properties of gravity is not a completely settled topic. The social sciences have even more room for disagreement. That's why it's good to be as well educated as you have time to be so that you can make your own determination in an intelligent way.

PS — I’d love to hear some of your feedback about The Chalice and the Blade once you begin reading it.