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| Minangkabau women (Source: Danielle Shapiro) |
There are very few matriarchal or matrilineal societies in the world-both in the past and today, but they have and do exist. There are, however, stark differences between what these two terms mean: matriarchal refers to a society where women rule society, wherein matrilineal refers to descent being passed through the woman's line. These concepts can exist together or separately, and they may very well among the Minangkabau. Today's blog post will discuss this aspect of their culture further and allow you, the reader, to decide which best applies to the Minangakabau.
The Minangkabau are a cultural group of Indonesia and have existed in the region for centuries. They practice Islam, which has been carefully interwoven into their customary ideological and cultural traditions. Among the Minangkabau they identified two genders, male and female, and both genders have equal status within their societies. Lineage and property rights, however, are passed down through the woman's/mother's line, which demonstrates that they are a matrilineal society. As a result women keep the family home, whereas men leave and live in their wife's family home.
Within the family unit the eldest male is the head of the family, even if and when he has his own nuclear family. The primary child rearing responsibilities fall onto the uncles, not the fathers, within the Mingangkabau culture. This may sound very strange since this runs counter to what many Western cultures practice, so let me explain further. While a man will marry and leave his family home he actually returns to it and helps his sister raise her children (his nephews and nieces). His children will be raised by his wife and brother-in-law. At the end of each day he returns to his own nuclear family unit.
This would make it sound like the society is largely matriarchal, and there are a number of anthropologists who make this claim. The Minangkabau, however, do not feel that this concept applies to their cultural group. The confusion lies in what exactly a matriarchy is. In patriarchal societies men rule, which is often through brute strength/force, dominance, and, as necessary, violence. Rulership within a matriarchal society is not the same; it is instead a society based on nurturing, collaboration, and sharing. Women in matriarchal societies cooperatively rule together and in consultation with me.
While there are elements of this among the Minangkabau (as seen the kinship example above) they still do not acknowledge their culture to be a matriarchal one. This is because they stress the complementary nature of the roles of men and women in their society, which do not cross over into each other. Men still maintain political power outside of the home, which is similar to patriarchal societies, wherein women maintain domestic control of the home, including home ownership and on matters of religion, which is typical of matriarchal societies.
Ultimately, the debate as to whether the Minangkabau are a strictly matrilineal, matriarchal, or combination of the two culture will continue. Ultimately, though, we can learn a lot from the complementary gender roles present within their societies, and from that hopefully gain a greater equitable society for all genders.
5 comments:
I find it different that the males move in with the wife's family instead of the wife and husband moving in together and starting there family but that's a American tradition. the article states that "helps his sister raise her children (his nephews and nieces). His children will be raised by his wife and brother-in-law" The brother in-law/uncles raises the husbands kids and the husband goes back home to help raise his sisters kids. Not the average marriage. In my culture that's like defeating the purpose of getting married.
It is interesting to read about a matriarchal society and it is hard to picture in my head because I don’t hear or see many matriarchal societies. I also find it interesting how even though they are considered matriarchal, men still have political power and women mainly hold power of the household because that is often the case or similar to patriarchal roles. Lastly, I find it interesting how the husband will go back and help his sister and brother-in-law raise their children. That is unusual but in a good way.
As I understand this, the Minangkabau practice Islam, thus it is natural for males to have authority outside the home and women to wield power within it. What I found strange or unusual was when that man had to assist his sister with her children while his children were raised by his wife and brother-in-law. -Hiba A.
Minangkabau communities compose of matriarchal or matrilineal environments. Women are seen as dominant and tentive throughout their lifetime, some titles being passed through a family tree within a woman’s line or inherently women naturally ruling a society. The formality of this society has been around for quite some time. Even Though both sexes share the same respect in their society women are ranked as head of household and routinely the male move into their women home. It is necessary for the oldest male to take the primary leadership of the head person in charge of his family before and after he decides to start his own immediate family. Raising the children solely relies on the mother/ one’s uncles and not the birth father but the father returns to his immediate family at night. Women have been given a huge amount of responsibilities but this tradition has undergone a lot of centuries. The controversy about who holds what position and titles in this culture still is challenged today but both genders play roles in their societies that make an impact.
This is a cultural practice that I have never heard of before. It is very different from the marriage practices in America. It is also interesting to learn the women are more so in charge due to the matriarchy, whereas here in America it is typically a patriarchy. I was confused about the child raising process came about. I wonder why the uncle is responsible for their nieces and nephews and not the biological fathers of the children. I know that if I were in the uncle's position and only had 2 children, I would not want to take on the responsibility of caring for 8 children, if my sister happened to have that many. However, this is the practice of another culture that seems to be working for them.
McKenzie Williams
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