matriarchy, patriarchy and feminism. you’ve heard of them, perhaps know a little about them but you still have no idea if they’re only trends or actual sociopolitical concepts. we’re dissecting the matter…
La Tempête by French artist Pierre Auguste Cot, 1880.
the less we know, the more we think we know and the less we actually are a part of changing the world for the better.
patriarchy, matriarchy and feminism are three concepts that you’re probably not unfamiliar with but perhaps you don’t know much about what they really are, and that is of great importance - to now. because ultimately, knowledge makes it possible to move less on autopilot and less automatically on other people’s scripts.
so. let’s begin.
Original art by Félix Armand Heullant
patriarchy: “daddy owns the money and the house.”
men built the house, daddy owns the keys, owns the property and sets the rules. he appointed himself the head of the household. it’s a hierarchy where profits come first and men comes second. daddy builds a mine in the backyards and makes all the bees die.
women are of course welcome - they can cook, clean, raise the next generation of homeowners and can also be appointed CEO of the kitchen. preferably while smiling.
and if the women wants equality? she is allowed to continue managing the household, the children AND work 40 hours a week. wohoo. progress.
the patriarchal philosophy: men hold disproportionate systematic, cultural and institutional power, and masculinity is treated as the default authority.
feminism: “why the fuck does daddy own the money and the house”
feminism walks into the house of patriarchy and asks who the hell assigned men all the power. why do men have the keys? why is the 24/7 domestic labor unpaid? who decided that the only qualification of leadership is having a penis?
unlike patriarchy, feminism is a movement and not a whole system in itself. it’s a movement fighting for equal rights, freedom and gender-based oppression but within patriarchy.
feminism isn’t necessarily consistent. some feminists wants daddy to give up the keys, the money and the house and renovate it from the inside out. others want to demolish the entire house and build something completely different.
some would simply be happy for a seat at the boardroom table without even questioning why the heck the boardroom controls everyone’s lives in the first place.
and some would say… feminists help uphold the patriarchal structure by enforcing a 50-50 mentality on two biologically very different human beings.
the feminist philosophy: gender shouldn’t determine our rights, worth and opportunities.
matriarchy: “babes… why are we living in this house at all”
this is the fun one to explain, because since feminism mostly is our reference of a life of more equality, and patriarchy is a shit system only benefiting people at the top of the hierarchy, it is incredibly misunderstood.
matriarchy isn’t taking the crown from the king and crowning a queen instead. it questions why in the world we needed a supreme ruler in the first place.
matriarchy isn’t women being handed the keys to the house and men doing the dishes while carrying the baby in a babycarrier on absolutely no sleep.
matriarchy is an entirely different way of organizing society.
it’s not a triangular hierarchy, there is no power at the top, it’s actually a circular system. the whole social life pf matriarchy is organized around children, caregiving, community, kinship, reciprocity and shared responsibility. women and mothers being the ones brining life into this world, and having a superior biology (not to be misinterpreted as females being superior to men) hold central social significance.
matriarchy has different definitions in anthropology.
there’s a fancy word for people who believe that all humans are born equal and that it’s their birthright to be treated equally and handed opportunities in life: egalitarian.
according to egalitarian interpretations, matriarchy is broad in definition, and not every matriarchal society is egalitarian. not every egalitarian society is matriarchal either.
the matriarchal philosophy: power isn’t something we’re supposed to hoard, people and nature aren’t resources to exploit and leadership isn’t a throne to conquer. the matriarchal life is organized around nurturing life, children, maternal health, elders, sharing responsibility and making sure that there’s not a superior who dominates for a chosen few to thrive.
so. summa summarum as we say in sweden. the three concepts in short:
patriarchy: men are in charge, money is the most important thing we have. it’s just how things work and it’s for the better.
this system describes who holds the power.
feminism: who the fuck decided men should be in charge and treated as superior?
this movement wants to change the rules.
matriarchy: why are we organizing society around being in charge of each other?
this system asks us to imagine and work for a society organized an entirely different center of gravity.
patriarchy is a system of power. feminism is a movement within the patriarchal system. matriarchy is a whole different form of social organization.
feminism challenges patriarchy without necessarily proposing matriarchy to be the replacement. and matriarchy doesn’t necessarily equal feminism has achieved its goals.
Original art by Pierre-Antoine Baudouin
are we getting any smarter by now? hopefully we are. i suspect we’re both tired from this neurological workout so let’s take a well deserved break and rest our brains a little.
if you’re down for a more egalitarian matriarchal way of living, you’re in the right place. we’re decolonizing, discovering and exploring better ways to live in this part of the internet.
until next time!
xo, Briana
