Has there ever been a matriarchal society? If so, when and where?

by phicks8

Whereas many historical (and arguably contemporary) societies are deemed patriarchal, it would be interesting to know whether throughout history there is evidence of a society in which women took a preeminent role within politics/leadership/social structures.

ProjectFrostbite

Unfortunately, the short answer is no. Anthropologists have yet to find a female dominated society, but there are a lot of societies that deal with equality in "new" and exciting ways. The more equal societies tend to be those that are matrilineal (following the mother's family history, instead of patrilineal societies of the west (bar Spain, Portugal (?)), so it is the mother's name that is carried forward.

There have been none discovered, however the Mosuo of China do something interesting in terms of equality. The Mosuo are a very interesting group of people, as they are the only known group in the world that do not practise marriage. They are also one of the few groups that practise matrilineal descent, which adds a large weight to the value of women in their society, as it means that family history is carried through the female's lines.

Mosuo women are free to offer or accept sexual relations with a male, and the men are allowed to do likewise. Rejection and offering is in no way stigmatised.

When a Mosuo girl turns 13, she can begin her sexual practises, and is given a bedroom. I do not know of any age restrictions, however the male must have left his lover's house and return to his own before sun rise.

This is an interesting society structure, as because of their highly liberal norms regarding sex, it is nigh impossible to determine the father of a child, and therefore who should help provide for the child? The child's uncles and male cousins. This set up is held throughout the society, allowing men and women to have sexual relations with whoever they should choose and knowing that they need not fear relationship breakdowns destroying the family.

The Kaguru of East and South East Africa are also a group that follows matrilineal housing and descent patterns, but this does not mean that they are a matriarch. It is a tactic that powerful men use to secure his large family, drawing in rich or powerful husbands.

Matrilineal housing patterns are seen in more peaceful societies, where a large concentration of men are less important.

The women of Sparta were also held in high esteem. They were able to own slaves and property, this was mostly in reaction to the fact that Spartan soldiers weren't too big on staying alive if they didn't need to. IIRC, Spartan women could also divorce men. This is also seen in Norse societies.

discovery_fan

One example that comes to mind is the Iroquois Nation of the American Northeast. In their system, women, particularly mothers, held significant power. A group of elder mothers would appoint, and if necessary, remove leaders. Lineages were even traced through the mothers side. The only source i have at hand is the wiki article, which you can browse for further information. I'm also going off of 4th grade history, so i could be overestimating the significance. Please correct me if I am wrong.

DeepSpawn

Freidrich Engels put forward a the theory in his "The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State" that the predominant form original form of human society was a matriarchal clan based. Engels was basing this on the work on the Anthropologist Lewis Morgan who that that before the establishment of modern social relations,

women had cared for their children within a cooperative framework, sharing the burdens with their mother and other female relatives. One down-to-earth traditional custom made this possible. Throughout her life, a woman remained living in the same household with her mother and siblings. Children would be raised by a confederacy of mothers, daughters and sisters, backed up by male kin and possessing sufficient solidarity and authority to prevent any husband from taking her away or breaking them apart. A certain loose kind of ‘marriage’ was consistent with these arrangements, but in-marrying spouses had to agree to visit their brides within these women’s communal home. No woman could be privatised by her spouse or taken away. http://www.cpgb.org.uk/home/weekly-worker/ww930/supplement-early-human-kinship-was-matrilineal

Morgan was basing his theory on what he found in societies in North America, for example the Iroquois had a matrilineal society, The Iroquois and most Iroquoian peoples have a matrilineal kinship system; descent and inheritance pass through the maternal lines, and children are considered born into their mother's clan. Their clan mothers, or main women of the leagues, have considerable political power, helping determine chiefs within a warrior culture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois

This was an organization found across many societies in North America.

Gender roles were differentiated in most Native American tribes. Both sexes had power in decisionmaking within the tribe. Many tribes, such as the Haudenosaunee Five Nations and the Southeast Muskogean tribes, had matrilineal or Mother Clan systems, in which property and hereditary leadership were controlled by and passed through the maternal lines. The children were considered to belong to the mother's clan and achieved status within it.

When the tribe adopted war captives, the children became part of their mother's clan and accepted in the tribe. In Cherokee and other matrilineal cultures, wives owned the family property. When young women married, their husbands joined them in their mother's household.

The Engels position, which Knight is defending, is that almost all human societies were matriarchal originally, and it was not until there became alienable property,say domesticated cattle, that societies started to switch to a patriarchal system. There are a number of reasons as to why society would be matriarchal, but one of them is that you can guarantee a child's matrilinial descent. Its certain who the mother of a child is, determining fatherhood is far more problematic.

This views were initially supported, but because the theory was put forward by the Engels of Marx and Engels fame it became tied to Marxist orthodoxy. This meant there was a backlash to the Engels-Morgan story in the west, but this seems to be coming around now as the evidence does seem to support the matrilineal theory.

Knight, Chris Early Human Kinship Was Matrilineal In N. J. Allen, H. Callan, R. Dunbar and W. James (eds), Early Human Kinship. London: Royal Anthropological Institute, 2008, pp. 61–82.

nwob

While you have some good answers here, a cross post to /r/asksocialscience might be fruitful.

kingofbeards

The Minangkabau of Indonesia are a matriarchal society-- in fact, they are the largest living matriarchal society in the world. In their indigenous religious and social system known as adat, women hold all rights to land and assets. All decisions require maternal consensus. Marriage is controlled by maternal houses, and when a man and woman marry, the man moves into the female's maternal family. Couples prefer female children and consider them a blessing, the same way that male births are treasured in most western societies. The Minangkabau's indigenous cultural system has become more "patriarchal" after occupation by the Dutch and conversion to Islam, and now men have predictably become religious political "frontmen" for the community.