A Matrilineal Society Where a Woman Rules the House
People in the west may not be too familiar with the idea of a woman ruling the house, and the descent being run through the female line. What does that exactly mean?
India is a land of diversity, with people from different religion, caste and tribe thrive together.
What is even more charming is there are two societies that exist together in one of the states of Eastern India, a patrilineal society and a matrilineal society.
People in the west may not be too familiar with the idea of a woman ruling the house, and the descent being run through the female line. What does that exactly mean?
Everyone around is familiar with the idea of a patrilineal society, a man rules the house, a father is the head of the house and the children get the surname of the father.
In a matrilineal society, it’s different. In fact, it’s just the opposite. A woman is the ruler of the house. A woman never goes to her husband’s house after her marriage; instead the man comes to his wife’s house to stay with her.
It is the sole responsibility of the woman to look after her husband, to earn and feed her husband.
So that’s matrilineal society for you. Only two small tribes in India are matrilineal and they are located in the eastern most part of India in the state of Meghalaya, few kilometres away from the city of Guwahati.
Among the two, one major tribe that practices matrilineal system of governance is the Khasi tribe.
What made them follow the matrilineal form of governance when everyone around follow the patrilineal system, is hard to understand. Historians do have their own views, but nothing concrete has popped up to ascertain the real reason for it.
The Khasi women also inherit their parent’s property because the male member is supposed to go to his wife’s place once he gets married.
He eventually has no rights on his parent’s property.
The sad part of a matrilineal society is the total domination of a woman. A man after he goes old gets no importance in the house.
The woman would party around and make merry, whereas her husband would sit in the house and do all the daily chores, such as cooking food, washing dishes and changing his baby’s diaper.
Few matrilineal societies exist on the earth. Matrilineal is a dying society. More and more changes are taking place in the functions of the society.
China still has few tribes that practice matrilineal way of life. They are situated on the other side of the border with India.
Though, matrilineal is a strange form of society, it brings about a rare diversification for all of us to witness.
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User Comments
Rajiv Sighamony
On August 28, 2009 at 3:25 am
If given a choice, will you prefer living in a matrilineal society.
Anita Damodaran
On October 5, 2009 at 6:37 pm
It’s clear from your value-laden statement that “matrilineal is a strange form of society,” that you haven’t studied sociology, anthropology, or really anything that would make you competent to write a “sociological” article such as this. What makes a matrilineal society any “stranger” than a patrilineal society? Patrilineal societies’ greater prevalence doesn’t make them any less “strange.” You said the “sad part of a matrilineal society is the total domination of a woman.” By your own logic, wouldn’t the sad part of a patrilineal society be the total domination of a man? Read your words about matrilineal societies and switch the female and male nouns and pronouns:
“…She eventually has no rights on her parent’s property.
The sad part of a patrilineal society is the total domination of a man. A woman after she goes old gets no importance in the house.
The man would party around and make merry, whereas his wife would sit in the house and do all the daily chores, such as cooking food, washing dishes and changing her baby’s diaper…”
Sound familiar? This IS the tradition of patrilineal societies, and it’s still considered “normal” by countless societies around the world. Reworded to fit a patrilineal society, your words deliver the message women have been struggling to assert for millennia. It IS sad, it IS strange, and it’s time to change things. Thanks for your support.
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