What is matriarchy, main features, differences from patriarchy. Gynecocracy in Europe, Asia, Africa and Russia.
Matriarchy (gynecocracy) is the first known form of government, which implies the power of women in society. At the household level, we mean a situation when the wife is in charge of everything in the family.
What is gynecocracy or matriarchy?
Matriarchy has existed since ancient times. Some researchers of primitive society believe that evidence of it can be gleaned from ancient Greek myths about the Amazons.
The Amazons took part in the Trojan War, the Greeks took them prisoner and carried them to Greece in three ships. The warlike women killed the guards, but were unable to control the ships. Currents and winds nailed them to the shores of the Azov Sea. So the Amazons appeared in the Crimea and, in alliance with the Scythian men, laid the foundation for the Sauromat tribe.
Matriarchy in the history of mankind meant the primacy of courageous women, they lived apart, they needed men only to prolong the family. The girls were brought up in their own spirit, and the boys were given to be raised in other tribes.
So if we talk about the era of matriarchy, this should be understood as the undivided dominion of the female sex over the male.
The reasons for matriarchy must be considered the low level of productive forces in primitive society. The mother woman was considered the keeper of the hearth, she reproduced her kind in children, and magical powers were attributed to her. In ancient times, many peoples had a cult of Mother Earth, she represented the supreme deity in the pantheon of pagan deities.
In primitive matriarchy, the feminine principle of life was deified. Mother Earth gave birth to people, she was worshiped, holidays were organized in her honor. Such veneration automatically passed on to a simple earthly woman: she gives birth, the life of the clan does not fade away. The authority of the woman-mother in primitive society was indisputable.
The essence of matriarchy is that inheritance rights were passed on through the maternal line. This was called matrilineal. This practice existed among many peoples of the world in the era of transition from collecting the gifts of nature to agriculture, when they began to grow wheat and rye, other field and vegetable crops. It was mainly a woman who was engaged in this.
It's important to know! At the level of domestic matriarchy, the authority of a woman in the family is indisputable, and her husband unconditionally obeys her.
