Matriarchy

In a society where women tend to have the position of power it is called, Matriarchy. The term matriarchy is the opposite of patriarchy. The word stems from from the Greek, "mater" mother and archein "to rule".

It may be said that in a Matriarchy society the power of women is more then that of men. Matriarchy may also refer to a family where the women are in control.

Many people have heard the term Matriarchy but few actually know what the word, or the lifestyle, means. A matriarchy is actually a society where the females, especially the mothers, are the key influencers, and decision makers in anything to do with the government, control of property, or anything that has a moral influence. There are few anthropologists that think that there are truly matriarchal societies out there; however, it has been shown that the Iroquois were a society where women had total control over about anything that happened. When people hear the word matriarchy they are basically conditioned to have one response; that response is to think that it's just not possible for women to run things. Women are too emotional and temperamental to have control of an entire society.

Some myths concerning matriarchal societies include:
That they have never existed or if they did they are a thing of the distant past. That this type of society is a hopeless fantasy held by women who want to dominate their men, and have a society where they can be dominating to the men who live around them. Some experts believe that these myths stem from a society that is decidedly patriarchal and wants women to believe that this is the type of world they are supposed to live in, where men are the leaders, and women take a backseat to their wants and needs.

The term also can be used for a woman who rules her family, in essence wearing the pants, instead of letting her husband do so. Some people involved in the Domination and submission lifestyle have set up Matriarchy societies. These involve a Domina as the head of the society.

When a family is headed by the mother or the senior most female member it is called Matriarchy. If Matriarchy is to be existed in a society the members of that society should accept the dominance of women. When a country is ruled by a woman, there is Matriarchy. Matriarchy is wrongly defined by some people as the opposite of Patriarchy. The societies that follow Matriarchy respect the maternal values like motherliness, care taking, feeding, nurturing, etc. The Matriarchy system of society is based on the principle of motherliness and it is a need-oriented social set up. The motherliness, though it originates inside the family, is accepted as the basis of a culture. Since the maternal values are considered as the guiding principles of a Matriarchal society, an attitude of care taking, peacemaking, etc, will be prevailing in the society.

We have no evidence to prove that a Matriarchal society existed in the past somewhere. According to the scholars of the 19th century, during the cultural evolution of the human society there had been a series of various stages. According to modern sociologists as well as anthropologists the Matriarchal society never existed.

In Matriarchy differing genders and generations are complimentary to each other. There is always a balance between genders and generations. In Matriarchy, maternal values are principles of spirituality. In Matriarchy even a man can be the leader of the society if he is like a “good mother.” In Matriarchy a woman is accepted as a common mother. Hence one need not be a biological mother to be accepted as the caretaker. Subsistence economy is another feature of the Matriarchal society. There is no property ownership or territorial claim. The Mother Earth is common for all and it cannot be owned by a few or divided into parts.



In Matriarchy there is absolutely no hierarchy, whereas in Patriarchy everything is based on hierarchy and superiority. The individual can act according to his inner freedom in Matriarchy whereas in Patriarchy the individual is subjected to pressure from the society. In Matriarchy there is no written law, whereas in Patriarchy everything is based on a corresponding law. In Matriarchy the entire society feels responsible for the misconduct by a member. In Patriarchy, nobody is responsible for the misbehavior. In Matriarchy everyone is free and self-ruled, whereas in Patriarchy there are restrictions. Reproduction is controlled by women in Matriarchy whereas men control reproduction in Patriarchy. In Matriarchy the religion is decided by Mother Nature, whereas in Patriarchy the religion is decided by the biological father.

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