Mum's the world

So, what's it like when women run the show?

Argentinian writer Ricardo Coler spent two months living with one matriarchal society -- the Mosuo in Southern China -- and discovered that women on top create a kinder, gentler and surprise! sexier life.

In fact, men are treated like stud muffins. And there's no word for ''father.''

In contrast with patriarchal China, girl babies are valued here, as are boys. In the rest of the People's Republic, female infanticide or the abortion of female embryos is common.

Here are snips from Coler's interview with Germany's Spiegel Online:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Is Mosuo society a paradise for feminists?

Coler: I had expected to find an inverse patriarchy. But the life of the Mosuo has absolutely nothing to do with that. Women have a different way of dominating. When women rule, it's part of their work. They like it when everything functions and the family is doing well. Amassing wealth or earning lots of money doesn't cross their minds. Capital accumulation seems to be a male thing. It's not for nothing that popular wisdom says that the difference between a man and a boy is the price of his toys.

<SNIP>

SPIEGEL ONLINE: What astonished you the most?

Coler: That there is no violence in a matriarchal society. I know that quickly slips into idealization -- every human society has its problems. But it simply doesn't make sense to the Mosuo women to solve conflicts with violence. Because they are in charge, nobody fights. They don't know feelings of guilt or vengeance -- it is simply shameful to fight. They are ashamed if they do and it even can threaten their social standing.

<SNIP>

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Are men raised to be incompetent?

Coler: For the Mosuo, women are simply the more effective and reliable gender. However, they do say that the "really big" decisions -- like buying a house or a machine or selling a cow -- are made by the men. Men are good for this kind of decision-making as well as physical labor. The official governmental leader of the village, the mayor, is a man. I walked with him through the village -- nobody greated him or paid him any attention. As a man he doesn't have any authority.

Is this the way it was in many prehistoric and ancient societies before the guys started freaking out over what happened to their semen, who were their heirs and started controlling women?

I am willing to guess yes, especially based on what went on right here in North America among many native peoples.

Wouldn't it be better for the future if we returned to some aspects of our past?

There's a YouTube video of the Mosuo here.

Comments

[Mandos]

I guess my only question is, how utopian would it be at a larger scale than a 25K isolated ethnic minority?