MATRIARCHY:The Society Ruled By Women

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What Is Matriarchy??

For those who are unfamiliar with Matriarchy, it is a culture or group ruled by women. Yes, you read that perfectly: there is a culture ruled by women in the very same world as us. You may also be unaware of this because we live in a patriarchal society where we rarely consider women running the society despite having a female President. 

Anyway, I find matriarchal cultures fascinating, mostly because I am not a member of that culture and do not agree with how things are done on my own. Despite the fact that I have never visited one, I would love to live in a matriarchal society someday, even if just for a short time. However, I'm sure that every woman out there, whether aware of the "MATRIARCHAL" or not, has fantasized about being a part of it, for the sake of their own well-being.

Matriarchal Societies Around The World

1.Mosuo China 

Near Lugu Lake in the Tibetan Himalayas, the Mosuo have a population of around 50,000 people. The child born in Mosuo is purely the responsibility of his or her mother's kin.

Most of the time, the child's father is undisclosed, and there is no stigma attached to it. However, the men of the family have considerable responsibility as uncles to their sisters' children.

After participating in the coming of age ceremony, a Mosuo girl is considered a woman. This practice, which takes place between the ages of 12 and 14, marks the transition of a Mosuo girl into women and a Mosuo man into manhood. The Mosuo men practice tisese, which is Chinese for "rolling marriage."  Women have the option of inviting men they are interested in into their private sleeping quarters. If the man does not reciprocate the woman's wish, he will never visit her home. Tisese is done by men in the true sense of the word. Now, this is something that most of you might have never heard, and trust me, I know how surprised you are. Anyways, The grandmother makes all of the household decisions, including financial ones. After their mothers, the daughter would become the head of the family. 

Furthermore, the Matriarchal culture supported Mosuo in attracting tourists by providing employment opportunities such as waiter, guesthouse owner, tourist guide, taxi driver, and many others, encouraging residents to avoid leaving communities to seek employment.

Young Mosuo girls, on the other hand, seem to be taking a different direction, preferring to live under the same roof as their husbands, and some people believe that Mosuo culture will disappear in the next 30 years.

2. Umoja, Kenya

Umoja is a small Kenyan village. This village became a prime example of how women with a mission can't be silenced.

  According to theguardian.com  Rebacca Lolosoli, the village's founder was beaten to death for standing up for herself and other women in her village. While healing in the hospital, she came up with the concept of a women-only society. The village was created in 1990 by a group of 15 women who had been raped by British soldiers in the region. Umoja's population has grown to include all women who have escaped child marriage, rape, or domestic violence. There are currently 47 women and 200 children living in Umoja, according to reports.

Umoja attracts a large number of visitors. The women charge a small entrance fee in the hopes that tourists would purchase jewelry made by the women in the craft center once they arrive in the village.

3.Kashi, India

The Khasi is an ancient community with the world's one of the oldest known matrilineal societies. They live in Meghalaya and neighboring areas of Assam and Bangladesh, with other population groups such as the Garo. 

Only moms and mothers-in-law are authorized to care for children, and men are not allowed to attend family occasions, according to The Guardian. Besides that, in the Khasi tribe, when women marry, their surname is passed down instead of their husbands. Around 1 million people lived in this matriarchal society as of 2011.

4.Minangkabau, Indonesia

The Minangkabau people, also known as Minang, are an ethnic group in West Sumatra, Indonesia's Minangkabau Highlands. 

According to townandcountrymag.com,  it is widely held that the mother is the most important individual in the family in this culture. The domestic sphere of life is dominated by women. In the Minangkabau culture, marriage is possible, but the spouses must have separate sleeping quarters. As of 2017, the Minangkabau people are part of the world's largest remaining matriarchal community, with a population of about four million people.

5. BriBri, Costa Rica

BriBri, a matriarchal community in Costa Rica, is reportedly one of the world's oldest living matriarchal societies. This is an indigenous people's culture, and although being the country's largest indigenous group, the tribe's members have remained separated from the rest of Costa Rica. No one really knows where they live as their residences are very well protected in Talamanca's mountainous region.

 6.Guna, Panama

According to bbc.com Guna Yala, also known as San Blas, is a Panamanian archipelago of more than 300 islands, 49 of which are populated by the indigenous Guna people. The guineas, whose count is the hundreds of thousands, continue to live as their grandparents did, i.e. In small palm-leaf-covered wooden shacks with logs smoldering fireplaces and hammocks as the only furniture.

Women are the chief breadwinners in their communities. They decorate and make different handicrafts, which they sell to tourists. Foreigners are catered to by the women in the society, who run small shops and food stalls in the village.


   
   

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