1.
THE MATRIARCHAL
SOCIETIES
FAWAD AHMED JAMALI
REG # 1311130
B.B.A 4B

2.
OUTLINE…
 WHAT IS MATRIARCHY?
INTER-LINKED TERMS
 MATRIARCHAL SOCITIES
 SOCIETY OPERATIONS
 DIFFERING VALUES/NORMS
 DISCUSSION POINT

3.
MATRIARCHY???
 A form of social organization in which the mother or
the oldest female heads the family.
 Descents and relationships are determined through
female line.
OR
 A social system organized around the principle of
mother-rule in which mothers, or females are at the
top of the power structure.
“The opposite of matriarchy is patriarchy”

4.
INTER-LINKED
TERMS
 Matrilineal
 Matrifocal
 Matricentric

5.
LIST OF EXISTING MATRIARCHAL
SOCIETIES
 Minangkabau
 Masuo
 Akan
 Bribri
 Garo

6.
MINANGKABAU
• Indigenous to the Minangkabau highlands of
Western Sumatra in Indonesia
• Strongly Muslims but also follow “adat”
• The culture is partly matrilineal
• Numbers around 8 million

7.
MINANG CULTURE
• Property is inherited through female lineage unit
• Boys leave their houses as early as the age of 7 to
live in “Surau”
• Man to wait until a marriage proposal is received
from some young woman’s family
• Husbands having visitor status
• Maternal home considered ideal for married
sisters

8.
MASUO
• Also known as “Na”
• Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of China
• Numbers around 40000
• Linkage with Buddhism, Taoism

9.
MASUO CULTURAL HIGHLIGHTS
• Women being head of the family, heir to the
property and business decision maker
• Barter-based system
• Preserved pork for upto 10 years
• Men and women role
• Walking marriages

10.
AKAN
• Ghana and Ivory Coast
• Number around 20 million, but only half of them
follow matrilineal customs
• Mainly Christians
• Minority follow Islam, Akan religion and Atheism

11.
AKAN CULTURAL HIGHLIGHTS
• Famous for gold weights
• Clan-based system
• Marriage with mutual agreement
• Initially engaged in slave trade

12.
BRIBRI
• Indigenous people of Talamanca region, Costa Rica
• Numbers around 12000
• Bribri and Spanish language
• Organized into clans

13.
BRIBRI CUTURAL HIGHLIGHTS
• Men and women roles
• Preparation of cacao
• Beliefs regarding ailment
• Iguana farming

14.
GARO
• Indigenous people of Meghalaya, India and
neighboring areas of Bangladesh
• Call themselves A-Chik/Manda
• Mainly Christians
• Population around 1 million

15.
GARO CULTURAL HIGHLIGHTS
• Youngest daughter inherits property
• Boys sent into bachelor’s dormitory
• Marriage is cross-cultural
• Food is simple, not spicy
• House is multi-attribute

16.
WHAT IF….
WHAT, IN YOUR OPINION, WOULD THE WORLD
WOULD HAVE LIKED IF WE HAD WOMEN IN
POWER???