Writing Matriarchy: Reminder
In case you haven’t picked up on this yet, let me put it in bold for you: rigid gender roles suck.
Matriarchy is going to suck for women.
No really, it will. Men in our society don’t cry. They don’t ask for help. They aren’t supposed to be vulnerable, particularly not in everyday life. The women in your matriarchy will face similar problems, depending upon which values you’ve chosen to base yours upon.
Matriarchy is going to suck for men more.
You should show this. A goodly portion of matriarchy stories focus on the first point, because their viewpoint characters are all women, or they’re looking to avoid criticism of making their society untouchably perfect, or the intended message was that unequal gender hierarchies suck, see, women have power here and they still aren’t happy. Unless your men have all died off, then you need to show this side of the story. Have a viewpoint character who is a man; bring back the aforementioned doctor and show how frustrating the constant questioning of his competence is. Or if you cannot do that, then have a secondary character who is a man, and have him voice his opinion every once and a while and come into conflict with his many female peers. Or even have a scene where, when looking to appoint a new lieutenant/councilwoman/secretary an applicant’s fitness is evaluated and then dismissed on the grounds of his gender and the stereotypes therein.
On the whole, women benefit more from a matriarchy then from a patriarchy.
Show this too, please, especially if you’re writing a feminist piece. Women are going to meet with their new boss, fairly confident that their new boss is a woman. Their leader is a very likely a woman as well. Their culture values their contributions to society more than men’s contributions. Tools are designed with their average build in mind, not a man’s. Pains will be taken to ensure that there are pads and tampons available in every restroom, and that they are not tainted in any way. They are the default and the center of their society, and for most of them, any change in gender dynamics will result in the loss of things they take for granted, and will be reacted against with fear of that loss.
That doesn't mean that your women will spend their days gleefully walking over every man in their path, any more than men here on Earth do. It means that they have the majority of the privilege along the gender division, and that's going to work in their favor. Those who have this pointed out to them might react with denial (you're wrong, you're looking for something else to blame for your problems, you're exaggerating, you need a sense of humor), or even if they come to recognize it, may blunder their well-meaning way into safe spaces or discussions that are still over their heads.
Of course, if you're writing a story where matriarchy is incidental to the plot, you need not point out every little problem there might be. A big gigantic space opera that runs on laser guns and larger-than-life deeds doesn't require an in-depth analysis of the society if it only exists to provide the back drop. But little hints are perfectly fine- things like your male character having trouble fitting his fingers into places designed with women in mind, or suppressing the urge to roll his eyes when reflexively called "ma'am" add a lot of flavor to the story.This will be more difficult to do is there's a dearth of male characters, as things don't show up as well as when they're working for people rather than against, but it's still doable. Should one of your characters do something that's worth being chewed out over, use language that implies she's secretly too masculine for the job. Make some crude remarks in the shower. Make a reference to the men at home, waiting for your protagonists' triumphant return. You have an unequal power structure here, you should show it.
Intersections Resources
Matriarchy is going to suck for women.
No really, it will. Men in our society don’t cry. They don’t ask for help. They aren’t supposed to be vulnerable, particularly not in everyday life. The women in your matriarchy will face similar problems, depending upon which values you’ve chosen to base yours upon.
Matriarchy is going to suck for men more.
You should show this. A goodly portion of matriarchy stories focus on the first point, because their viewpoint characters are all women, or they’re looking to avoid criticism of making their society untouchably perfect, or the intended message was that unequal gender hierarchies suck, see, women have power here and they still aren’t happy. Unless your men have all died off, then you need to show this side of the story. Have a viewpoint character who is a man; bring back the aforementioned doctor and show how frustrating the constant questioning of his competence is. Or if you cannot do that, then have a secondary character who is a man, and have him voice his opinion every once and a while and come into conflict with his many female peers. Or even have a scene where, when looking to appoint a new lieutenant/councilwoman/secretary an applicant’s fitness is evaluated and then dismissed on the grounds of his gender and the stereotypes therein.
On the whole, women benefit more from a matriarchy then from a patriarchy.
Show this too, please, especially if you’re writing a feminist piece. Women are going to meet with their new boss, fairly confident that their new boss is a woman. Their leader is a very likely a woman as well. Their culture values their contributions to society more than men’s contributions. Tools are designed with their average build in mind, not a man’s. Pains will be taken to ensure that there are pads and tampons available in every restroom, and that they are not tainted in any way. They are the default and the center of their society, and for most of them, any change in gender dynamics will result in the loss of things they take for granted, and will be reacted against with fear of that loss.
That doesn't mean that your women will spend their days gleefully walking over every man in their path, any more than men here on Earth do. It means that they have the majority of the privilege along the gender division, and that's going to work in their favor. Those who have this pointed out to them might react with denial (you're wrong, you're looking for something else to blame for your problems, you're exaggerating, you need a sense of humor), or even if they come to recognize it, may blunder their well-meaning way into safe spaces or discussions that are still over their heads.
Of course, if you're writing a story where matriarchy is incidental to the plot, you need not point out every little problem there might be. A big gigantic space opera that runs on laser guns and larger-than-life deeds doesn't require an in-depth analysis of the society if it only exists to provide the back drop. But little hints are perfectly fine- things like your male character having trouble fitting his fingers into places designed with women in mind, or suppressing the urge to roll his eyes when reflexively called "ma'am" add a lot of flavor to the story.This will be more difficult to do is there's a dearth of male characters, as things don't show up as well as when they're working for people rather than against, but it's still doable. Should one of your characters do something that's worth being chewed out over, use language that implies she's secretly too masculine for the job. Make some crude remarks in the shower. Make a reference to the men at home, waiting for your protagonists' triumphant return. You have an unequal power structure here, you should show it.
Intersections Resources