What is matriarchy? This is a complicated interrogate which is being hotly debated among the historians, anthropologists, writers, feminists and the intelligentsia. Matriarchy can be described as a kind of social principles where the mom frame and women have authority. The word matriarchy is coined as the opposite of patriarchy, from Greek mater "mother" and archein "to rule". Gynecocracy, is sometimes used synonymously to recount matriarchy. Matriarchy can be also defined as a form of social club where women are the dominant gender, a female is the family head and title is traced through the female line. This principles is also called as androcracy. It can be also called a principles of government by females and another technical article attributed to matriarchy refers it as a gynocentric form of society. Matriarchal animal societies contain bees, elephants and killer whales. The above seminar has helped us to understand the definition of matriarchy while analyzing the interrogate "what is matriarchy"? Now let's discuss the "order" of matriarchy.
What is Matriarchy: The "order" in Matriarchal societies
Matriarchy is a combination of two cut off terms, Matrilineality and Matrilocality. Matrilineality is ascribed to an order where the lineage of the offspring is traced from the mother's side and matrtrilocality is described as a phenomenon where the offspring of the mom lives in the mother's house. This would be thought about as a clan with the extended family living there as well. Back in time, there was a form of marriage called as visiting marriage, where the husband came from face and lived with the wife for a short duration of time and then they lived apart even though they continued to remain married. The husband only had a visiting status and never lived constantly in the household. The children lived with the mom and the other generations of their families. In this setup the father did not have an active role in raising the children but he still remained married to the wife. We don't see this form of marriage anymore. These types of marriages were mostly practiced by habitancy of the ancient Pueblo, the Chaco Canyon, the Mosu of Southwestern China and the habitancy of Minangkabau of the Western Sumatra. These were ancient societies where the "visiting marital alliance" existed and this kind of "visiting marriage" may still exist in some of the more primitive tribes. Societies with such "order" can be thought about as Matriarchal. Thus to know the interrogate "what is matriarchy?" we need to understand the "order" of matriarchy as discussed above.
What is Matriarchy: The great goddesses and the reality of Matriarchy
The idea of great ancient goddesses and the matriarchal societies which worshiped the ancient goddesses is being actively researched by many writers, historians, archaeologists and anthropologists. The interrogate "what is matriarchy?" cannot be sufficiently understood unless we unearth the myths and traditions of the ancient goddesses and the ancient matriarchies attached to these ancient goddesses. The field is developing as the "science of old goddesses" and worship of these goddesses by the ancient matriarchal societies that existed in the prehistoric times. Numerous archaeological expeditions have led to the discovery of various prehistoric finds. Interpretation of these prehistoric artefacts from a new perspective is adding essential interest to the whole field of matriarchy.
What is Matriarchy: Existing matriarchal tribes and indigenous societies
There are many societies even today which are matriarchal in nature. These may be small societies surviving on horticulture but they are societies which are functional and which have long history attached to them. Example is the Nagovisi of Bougainvillea in the South Pacific, the Khasi of Meghalaya, India, and the Machinguenga of Peru. These existing tribes and indigenous societies have shown strong matriarchal inclinations in various aspects of their social order. Works by eminent researchers focussing on the Trobriand islanders and Australian aborigines showed that there existed many interactions in these societies spirited women in central roles and these interactions were thought about no way less or marginal by these populations. Many anthropologists learning the indigenous populations found that women were influential, independent and having a position cut off but as valued as men's among these societies. These ancient and indigenous societies never separated biological women and men in opposing categories and social and kin relationships thought about the position of individuals in these societies. Added there are a large whole of societies that exist today where women enjoy full sexual and frugal control over themselves. To this group of matriarchies, or egalitarian societies, depending on how we define them, any Pacific and Native American cultures can be added, for example Pueblo Indians (the Zuni, Laguna and Hopi), the pre-19th century Iroquois and Innu (Montaignais-Naskapi), the Vanatinai, and Hawaii under Queen Liliuokani.
What is Matriarchy: Discarding the myths and assumptions surrounding the evolution of human societies
As we look at the interrogate of "what is matriarchy" and examples of existing matriarchal societies we need to construct a dissimilar perspective towards the development and evolution of the hunter-gatherer societies. Typical assumptions and myths needs to be re-examined. Among them the prominent one being the assumption that ancient societies industrialized around scarcity and in these societies work and social interactions were segregated along the lines of gender. Added the myths like the nature of human beings portrayed as always selfish and individualistic needs to be discarded. another big myth that needs to be totally busted revolves around the belief that in social club there is always an inequality based on class and gender. These assumptions and myths just do not fit well for the many of the existing matriarchal tribes and indigenous societies. Thus we can clearly say that the belief that societies evolved in the midst of scarcity may be a big social construct and not a reality of human existence. Added disjunction of work and social life may not be a essential characteristic of economic production. Moreover selfishness and acquisitiveness as human character may not be the dominant characters of human beings and inequality based on class and gender is not essential characteristic of human society.
What is Matriarchy: False assumption of male dominance
There is large section of intelligentsia which dismisses the whole belief of matriarchy. They claim that matriarchy never existed in history. This kind of sweeping judgement and universal rejection of the real possibility of existence of an ancient matriarchal order shows the typical male bias or Eurocentric bias which exists from thousands of years. This is a typical linear reasoning which only accepts a patriarchal form of society. Western reasoning is based on dichotomies, dualism and separable categories in the club of a society. It has sure unpronounced assumptions about the human nature and in particular about the male status and role in society. This view supports the claim that the male is bound to rule in any type of social setup and male dominance is but natural.
What is Matriarchy: The biased schedule against the feminine gender
The whole coming of the patriarchal society has been highly biased against the feminine gender. In most of the so called mainstream patriarchal societies the role and activities of men were always given importance and the role of women and their activities were thought about less important. Even the same activities which are performed by men if are taken up by women they are then framed as less important. Moreover to bring out this biased stratification into open in practically all of the mainstream patriarchal societies there are roles and activities which are exclusively attributed to men and are reserved for them. In this way there is a clear demarcation of male supremacy over females.
What is matriarchy: Theories on the evolution of human society are small in whole but human societies are infinite
In insight the interrogate "what is matriarchy?" we need to understand that all the theories on the evolution of human society are small in whole and western principles does not cover the infinite societies that existed earlier stretching to the prehistoric times and many of them that exist even today. There is sufficient evidence in terms of archaeological finds which points towards the existence of matriarchal societies in the prehistoric times. Therefore any closing which says that there was no matriarchy because of feebleness of the proof, is logically wrong. The proof of silence is not a good proof, not even in history. Added whatever interpretations that have taken place of ancient writings related to women may not be definite in the sense that interpretations that have survived to our time espouse a clear bias against women and they serve only one purpose and that is the promotion of the patriarchal form of society.
What is matriarchy: Beating "proof of impossibility"
To pass on a sweeping closing that matriarchy never existed we need the "proof of impossibility" and there are whole of examples to refute the "proof of impossibility" in the sense that matriarchal societies existed in the past and exist even today in various forms around the world. It is high time we discard the assumption that there is only small whole of inherent ways to construct a society and all of which are based on male dominance. no ifs ands or buts societies existed with female dominance and there is huge possibility that majority of time to come societies will be set up with female dominance. This is a trend that is already descriptive in existing modern societies of the world.
What is Matriarchy: Growing out of the Eurocentric and Western view of societies
Another problem is that the wide range of theories which promote the universality of patriarchy are mostly based on the Eurocentric and Western view of societies. The prominent point to note is that we cannot bind the history of societies in a predetermined biased logic. The truth is that societies during their development and evolution adopt a wide range of organizations and gender is one variable or factor within the framework of numerous possibilities of development. In this regard a society could have either evolved as a patriarchal or matriarchal form of club based on the economic and environmental opportunities and constraints. Therefore production a sweeping judgement of the existence of only patriarchy and then formulating a wide range of theories based on this assumption does not hold water.
What is Matriarchy: Matriarchy as the future
The possibility of the emergence of matriarchy in the near time to come at a global scale is becoming real. Consciously or unconsciously we are creating structures for an emerging matriarchy in all modern societies. Women are rapidly getting educated and trends are showing that the ratio of women to men who shall get a university degree in the near time to come will be 3:2. Women college graduates are going to outnumber the male college graduates by a ratio of 1.5. In higher study already the female students outnumber their male counterparts. These trends are seen in industrialized societies like America and Europe. Added this is not a spontaneous phenomenon but it has been the corollary of continuous women's activism for equal opportunity in every sphere of life from last one hundred years. This mass movement over the world has attracted many women towards workplace and this in turn has led to more women taking up pro courses. Today women students outnumber men students in many college campuses in modern societies. There are far reaching implications for this trend that we are witnessing today. Classic study obtained by women will make them simply eligible for high end jobs with big earning potential. Women will be forced to opt for lesser educated and lesser earning male partners as there will be a great scarcity for highly educated males in the future. In this kind of scenario the women in the family will focus more on their jobs because of economic reasons and men in the household will actively share parenting responsibilities along with their female partners. The social impact of this turn and revolution would be huge. There will be a cascading series of psychological and emotional adjustments in the society as for the first time after thousands of years there will be a tilt towards matriarchy in a new form. A matriarchal society will work for the good in the long run as it will simply construct the equilibrium in the society. Under a matriarchal principles the daughters and sons will be treated at par and maybe then more sons will go to school and college for study under the watchful eyes of the mothers.
What is Matriarchy: Topics for detailed study
Further to understand the interrogate "what is matriarchy?" in depth we need to study the following topics in detail.
1. Matriarchal social club in non-human animals
2. History of the belief of Matriarchy in relation to humans-This includes Archaeological hypotheses
3. Matriarchy versus matrifocality-This includes topics like existing matrifocal cultures
4. The meaning of matriarchy in classical works
5. Matriarchies in mythology
6. Matriarchy in feminism
7. Matriarchy in favorite culture
What is Matriarchy: Shattering the myth of male dominance
As I said before the history of societies is dominated with a linear reasoning of male supremacy in social structure. This attitude to stress male dominance in all inherent circumstances seems to be an expression of over-cautiousness and an exertion to construe the data in the least exceptional way. This reasoning and coming needs to turn as there has to be other inherent ways of interpretations and reasoning about a given situation. These alternative interpretations, views and theories cannot be suppressed or buried aside as non consequential. We have to accept the fact that universality of patriarchy and the European world view are too narrow in nature and their predominance and existence today is the corollary of last 500 years of European military expansion and extermination on native cultures around the world. The saddest part is that this European military expansion and extermination was carried out with a view that the native and indigenous societies were uncivilized and they needed to be civilized by any means including force.
I find that the native cultures and civilizations that existed around the world were more civilized and cultured than their barbaric cousins from Europe. In fact these native cultures, of which most were neither sexually dichotomized nor arduous to either sex. Even in many stratified native societies, the top positions in any field could be ready to either gender-or at least to two genders, in case a third gender was acknowledged. This normally made it inherent for a person of either sex to adopt an intermediate gender and thus gain passage to otherwise inaccessible roles. Was this kind of free time inherent in the so called civilized societies of the medieval Europe? This is a good interrogate to ponder upon when we study the topic "what is matriarchy?".
made my day What is Matriarchy? made my day
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