\[ **BT: [[society]] | [[kinship]]** ]
\[ **RT: [[patriarchy]]** ]
---
# matriarchy
[[Etymologically, ‘matriarchy’ means ‘the mothers from the beginning’ far more than it does ‘domination by mothers’.]][^1]
[[Matriarchal societies are not the women-dominating inverse of patriarchal societies. Instead, they are the ‘true gender-egalitarian societies’.]][^2]
[[The misunderstanding that ‘matriarchy’ means ‘rule by women’ has caused long-term problems, not least a strong prejudice against the concept.]][^3]
- see also:
- [[kinship#matrilineality]]
- [[kinship#matrilocality]]
- [[kinship#the matrifocal family]]
[^1]: Heide Goettner-Abendroth, ‘[[Goettner-Abendroth, ‘Re-thinking “Matriarchy”’, 2018|Re-thinking “Matriarchy” in Modern Matriarchal Studies Using Two Examples: The Khasi and the Mosuo]]’, *Asian Journal of Women’s Studies*, vol. 24, no. 1 (2018), pp. 5–6, <https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2017.1421293>.
[^2]: Heide Goettner-Abendroth, ‘[[Goettner-Abendroth, ‘Re-thinking “Matriarchy”’, 2018|Re-thinking “Matriarchy” in Modern Matriarchal Studies Using Two Examples: The Khasi and the Mosuo]]’, *Asian Journal of Women’s Studies*, vol. 24, no. 1 (2018), p. 5, <https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2017.1421293>.
[^3]: Heide Goettner-Abendroth, ‘[[Goettner-Abendroth, ‘Re-thinking “Matriarchy”’, 2018|Re-thinking “Matriarchy” in Modern Matriarchal Studies Using Two Examples: The Khasi and the Mosuo]]’, *Asian Journal of Women’s Studies*, vol. 24, no. 1 (2018), p. 3, <https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2017.1421293>.