# Goettner-Abendroth, ‘Re-thinking “Matriarchy”’, 2018 > [!cite] > Goettner-Abendroth, Heide. ‘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. 3–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2017.1421293. > [!abstract] Abstract > The new field of modern Matriarchal Studies calls non-patriarchal societies ‘matriarchal.’ Traditional research on matriarchy is laden with unclear definitions and excessive emotionality. Lacking a clear scientific definition of ‘matriarchy,’ the term has been misunderstood as ‘rule by women,’ provoking a lasting, ideologically distorted prejudice against it. Modern matriarchal studies reorients the field with precise definitions, an explicit methodology, and a theoretical framework (Introduction). This article argues for the importance of retaining the term ‘matriarchy’ and using a new and adequate structural definition of matriarchal societies to understand their deep structure. My argument derives inductively from my cross-cultural research on existing indigenous societies, emphasizing their economic, social, political, and cultural features. Matriarchies will be shown to be gender-egalitarian and consensus-based societies, actively promoting peace and sustainablity by various well-conceived guidelines (Part 1). A brief description of two such societies follows: the Khasi of Northeastern India and the Mosuo of Southwestern China. The focus is not on their ethnographic similarities and differences, but on what makes them ‘matriarchies’ and how the definition can embrace a certain variety, deepening our understanding of these societies (Part 2). Concluding remarks summarize the preceding discussion and highlight the political relevance of this topic. --- ‘Lacking a clear scientific definition of “matriarchy,” the term has been misunderstood as “rule by women,” provoking a lasting, ideologically distorted prejudice against it.’ [[Goettner-Abendroth, ‘Re-thinking “Matriarchy”’, 2018|(Goettner-Abendroth 2018, 3)]] ^bb45f1 ‘Women are always aliens in the patriarchal system, invisible and unheard; they are always “the other.” This is generally called sexism, but is more accurately internal colonialism, directed against elements of the society itself. In anthropological research on matriarchal cultures I encountered the same attitude of dismissal, the same fragmentation and distortion. It was also necessary to turn the critique of patriarchal ideology against external colonialism, the exploitative combination of imperialism, racism and sexism that made indigenous peoples on every continent into “others”—unseen and unheard—with especially severe consequences for matriarchal societies.’ [[Goettner-Abendroth, ‘Re-thinking “Matriarchy”’, 2018|(Goettner-Abendroth 2018, 4)]] ^6d4459 ‘Matriarchies are true gender-egalitarian societies. This applies to the social contribution of both sexes. Though women, especially mothers, are at the center, this principle governs the social functioning and freedom of both sexes. Matriarchal societies are not mirror images of patriarchal ones, and do not substitute dominating women for patriarchy’s dominating men; these societies have never needed patriarchy’s hierarchical structures. Patriarchal domination, where a minority emerges from wars of conquest and takes over a whole culture, derives its power from enforcement structures, private ownership, colonial rule, and religious conversion.’ [[Goettner-Abendroth, ‘Re-thinking “Matriarchy”’, 2018|(Goettner-Abendroth 2018, 5)]] ^a35c40 ‘To better understand the word “matriarchy,” we must examine its linguistic background. The Greek word “arché” means both “domination” and, in the older sense of the word, “beginning.” These meanings cannot be conflated. One would not translate “arche-type” (primordial type) as “dominator-type,” nor understand “arche-ology” (knowledge of the earliest cultures) as “teaching of domination.” \[…] Based on the earlier meaning of “arché,” matriarchy means “the mothers from the beginning.” This refers to the biological fact that mothers, in giving birth, engender life and point to the fact that they are creators of culture itself. This unique societal form has been described as “matrilineal,” “matrifocal,” “matristic,” or “gylanic.”’ [[Goettner-Abendroth, ‘Re-thinking “Matriarchy”’, 2018|(Goettner-Abendroth 2018, 5–6)]] ^c1ebfb