Living in a Matriarchal Society//
The women farmers of Côte d’Ivoire live in a traditional patriarchal society.// This is not unusual.// Patriarchal societies have existed throughout most of human history.// Is there any alternative?// How about a matriarchal society?//
　In a patriarchal society, men are the heads of the family and hold most of the wealth and power.// Women do not have equal property rights and often lack the chance to go to school.// Women struggle to become equal to men.//
　Try to imagine a society in which women are not only equal to men but are also in complete control, a society in which women are honored and placed at the center: a matriarchal society.//
　Actually, the earliest societies may have been matriarchal.// The shift toward patriarchal society began about 3000 B.C.// In the myths of ancient Greece, women held the highest status, like that of goddesses and warriors, equal to any man.//
　However, that is ancient history and myth.// How about today and reality?// You might be surprised to know that there are still matriarchal societies in the world today.//
　Among them are the Mosuo people in China.// There are about 40,000 Mosuo, and they live in a matriarchal society.// Women are in charge of almost everything.// Property is handed down through the female line.// Mosuo women don’t marry in the usual sense.// A young woman does not wait for a young man; she chooses her partner by walking to his house.// The Mosuo call it a “walking marriage.”// The couple doesn’t live together.// Men continue to live with their mothers.// In Mosuo society, the matriarch runs the large household and is in charge of everything.//
　Matriarchy like that of the Mosuo is an interesting idea, but not many people want to establish such a matriarchy in the modern world.// Most of us hope for a just society, in which women and men work together, help one another, and enjoy equal status.//