Ishtar as "all that is other"

I'm reading a review of Zainab Bahrani's Women of Babylon: Gender and Representation in Mesopotamia. According to the reviewer, Bahrani argues that Inanna/Ishtar, rather than confusing gender boundaries and gender roles, actually reinforced them by clarifying where the boundaries were and what the roles weren't. Ishtar is "alterity", "all that is other", and consequently "in Mesopotamian culture, alterity and chaos were gendered female". These are both fascinating points, and I look forward to getting my paws on the book.
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Harris, Rivkah. Review of Women of Babylon: Gender and Representation in Mesopotamia by Zainab Bahrani. Journal of the American Oriental Society 123 (1) Jan - Mar 2003, pp. 199-200.