Matriarchal Family

MATRIARCHAL FAMILY

Meaning of family concerning matriarchal societies

Family in matriarchal societies is also known as the mother-centered or mother dominated family. Here, the mother or the woman is the head of the family and exercises authority. She is the owner of the property and the manager of the household. All the other members are subordinate to her.

Characteristics matriarchal family

1. Descent, inheritance and succession:

Here the descent is traced through the mother. Hence it is matrilineal in descent. Daughters inherit the property of the mother. They succeed their mother and the sons. The status of the children is mostly decided by the mother's status.

2. Matrilocal Residence:

In a matrilineal society, the husband lives at the residence of the wife. Thus the family in society is matrilocal. The husband, who normally stays in his sister’s house, pays occasional visits to the wife’s house. He is treated as a ‘privileged visitor.’ But he is given only secondary position. Sex relations between husband and wife tend to be very loose and both may often develop extra-marital sexual relations.

3. Exercise of power:

In a matriarchal system, the mother exercises authority and power in the matriarchal family. She is the head of the family and her decisions are final. But in practice, some relative of the mother, mostly her brother, exercises authority in the family and looks after the property.

4. Structure of the family:

The maternal family brings together the kinsmen (the wife, her mother and grandmother, her children and brothers, etc.) and welds them together into a powerful group. This type of family is normally associated with exogamy.

At present, both matriarchal and patriarchal families have diminished. Rather, egalitarian or equalitarian families in which father and mother enjoy equal status and opportunities have emerged. Most of the families in industrial societies are equalitarian families. They are often called ‘modern families,’ and also ‘nuclear families.’