What would life be like if the world were ruled by women ?.
We may never know, but we do have the examples of the rare but fascinating matriarchal cultures still in existence in today’s world to give us the ‘low-tech’ answer to this complex problem.
An example of such a culture is the Khasi (or Khasia), an agricultural people who live in the hill districts in Meghalaya state (North-Eastern India), where they arrived about 500 years ago, presumably from Tibet.
The Khasia, (a people short in stature with flat noses and mouths, high jaws, and small and straightened black eyes), now represent one of the major matriarchal tribes in modern-day India, with numbers estimated at 800,000.
At present, more than 80% of the Khasia are Christians, and almost every village has its own church. They do, however, continue to maintain their own age-old customs and traditions.
And that is when it starts to get good ...
According to a Khasia proverb, the civilisation originated from the female.
Succession to tribal office runs through the female line, passing from mother to youngest daughter or ‘heiress’ (who also happens to be the 'heir' of her maternal house and property). In all unions, the wife handles all monetary and property transactions.
Marriage is compulsory for Khasia males and is treated a command of God, with celibacy being viewed as sinful and said to be cursed.
Most marriages take place on the basis of 'prior mating', (meaning that the girls select their groom, and the males on the bridegrooms' side dress the bridegroom in a white loincloth and a turban and deliver him to the brides' house, staying for a short while, then leaving him there alone with her).
For the youngest daughter (or heiress), a husband is selected by her parents, and the groom is ‘captured’ in a traditional ceremony as part of the pre-wedding celebrations - he may even run away twice, and is expected to be coy and submissive when eventually 'caught'.
In Khasia society, cultivation and household work are done on the basis of mutual cooperation and understanding between wife and husband, and disagreement is rare. All daughters get a share of property but cannot sell it. The youngest sister has responsibility for family rituals and ceremonies.
Monogamy is a custom among the Khasia. However, a woman can have more than one husband if the first husband happens to be sexually impotent, as all Khasia children take the surname of their mother, and illegitimacy is not frowned upon.
If a Khasia woman chooses to leave her husband, she takes their bed to her mothers’ home. If she’s really serious, she may take their dwelling and children with her, literally leaving him with no roof over his head and forcing him to take shelter with his mother.
Interestingly, a ‘male rights’ organization has been founded after Khasia men complained that women are overbearing and dominating. “We are sick of playing the roles of breeding bulls and baby-sitters" say the Khasia males. "We have no lines of succession. We have no land, no business".
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