Jessica Wynn

Responsibility doesn't disappear.

It's just redistributed.

And it's worth noticing something across all of these examples.

So in every case, women hold significant structural power over the property, inheritance, land, and the lineage.

But in every case, the men retain the prestigious roles, the ritual authority, the formal political positions.

So yeah, women get the property and the work, but men keep the ceremony and the title.

Right.

Yeah.

Which raises the question, what are we even looking for when we say matriarchy?

Because that word is doing about six different jobs at once.

Exactly.

But let's actually sort this out because the distinctions matter enormously.

And I think the definitions will make sense now that we've seen some real examples.

So first you have matrilineal societies.

These are the societies about descent and inheritance, like your family name and property.

They all get traced through the mother.

That tells you how a society organizes families.

It does not tell you who holds power.

Yeah, it's a crucial caveat.

Then you have matrilocal societies.