Building Community: Restoring matriarchial knowledge, processes, and structure

Defining Matriarchy

Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), matriarchy is a "form of social organization in which the mother or oldest female is the head of the family, and descent and relationship are reckoned through the female line; government or rule by a woman or women." A matriarchy is a society in which females, especially mothers, have the central roles of political leadership, moral authority, and control of property, but does not include a society that occasionally is led by a female for non-matriarchal reasons or an occupation in which females generally predominate without reference to matriarchy, such as prostitution or women's auxiliaries of organizations run by men

What needs to be Restored?

"Think the system is broken? You are not alone" reads the title of a recent TIMES magazine article ( https://time.com/5951631/pew-survey-faith-in-political-system/ ) Only is it?....... It is actually quite easy to argue that the system is NOT, in fact, broken. It is working, exactly how it was designed. There are lots of various ideologies that one can draw from to create a more utopian society. In this forum, we are exploring how matriarchal qualities could be used as the commanding influence in our educational structures, healthcare processes, economic systems, agriculture resources, and political powers, to name a few.

What specifically are these matriarchal characteristics? A list.

- Effectiveness of process to define success (vs. outcomes)

- Emotional, social, spiritual health to be as important as physical capabilities

- More joy, recreation, community, and nature

- Sustainable living (It is not a race)

- Support for the weakest and most challenged among us

- Higher responsibility of those who are the strongest and least challenged among us

- More presence, kindness, compassion, and ease

- More art, dance, music, rituals, and celebration

- Inclusion of history, culture, differing perspectives

- Circular or spiraling time lines vs linearity

- More egalitarian vs hierarchical processes

- More sharing, routines, and loud laughter

- More massage, skin to skin soothing, and hugging

- More responsiveness, availability, and expanding access to resources (vs. limiting or gate-keeping)

What would you add to this list?