Writing Matriarchy: Variants
When writing a non-human society, you can really go all out on what can be done. You don’t have to limit yourself to two genders, unless it’s a part of canon. You don’t need to follow the same biological constraints as human societies will, or find ways around them. You really can get away with anything you want, as long as you remember that old writing hat about remaining consistent with yourself.
Here are a few tips to get you started.
Some animals with matriarchal hierarchies:
-Elephants
-Lemurs
-Bonobos
-Bison
-Ants
Non-Human Reproduction:
Alien women do not need to have a vagina. Alien men do not need to have a penis. Female and male are determined by which has the egg and which has the sperm. Your species could be like sea horses, where the female impregnates the male with her egg. It could involve members of both genders impregnating a third partner, who has a womb. Perhaps a forth gender does the actual breastfeeding, should your species be mammalian, or they could barf up food otherwise. Go as crazy as you want, if only so my inner twelve-year-old can giggle when the word ‘ovipositor’ appears. Just keep in mind that if you have more than two genders, then you are going to have to parse the dichotomy the rest of this guide talks about to fit the number of genders you do have.
Other Biological Reminders:
Your alien women do not need to be any physically smaller, weaker, or less able to bulk up than your alien men. They also do not need to live longer, be more flexible, or have a higher tolerance for pain. They can be aggressive. They can be brightly colored. They can have bigger teeth or sharper claws or plumes or anything else we associate with the male of the species. Not to sound like a broken record, but as long as you don’t contradict yourself we will buy anything.
Human Matriarchal Societies
I’m warning you right now, that there are going to be people who just will not buy this no matter what. Though we have had several matrilocal, matrilineal, and matrifocal societies on this world, we have yet to have a definitively matriarchal one. The theory that humanity started out goddess-worshipping and matriarchal before shifting to patriarchy around Ancient Sumerian time is a theory that has fallen out of favor with the mainstream scientific community. There are many people who posit that humanity is incapable of being matriarchal. And every single statement in this paragraph is as controversial as hell.
Don’t despair though: because these statements are controversial, they are also not absolute facts, and plenty of people who read for escapism or wish fulfillment or to find an answer to the question ‘what if’ will read your story with an open mind. But, as humanity is something with which your readers will be familiar with, you are going to have to build off of it, rather than working entirely off whole cloth. As mentioned in the Non-Human section, there will be the expectation that men will be bigger, stronger, and bulkier than women, and that women will be more flexible, live longer, and have a higher tolerance for pain. There will be the expectation that women will give birth to babies, should any baby-birthing take place in the story. Men will be at greater risk than women for things like colorblindness where the allele is found on the X chromosome. Similarly, there are going to be eyebrows raised if your men are more passive than women, as aggressiveness is something that has a biological basis as well as a societal one.
It’s not to say that you can’t find creative ways around this, only that your readership will demand an explanation, should your story begin with your colorblind protagonist working out her aggression by bench-pressing 260 lbs before coming home to her pregnant husband.
Non-Dichotomous Expressions of Gender
Sex and gender do not necessarily line up. And very, very often, gender and gender roles don’t line up either.
A great many stories don’t come close to touching on that first part. A great many modern-day societies don’t either. An indeterminable number of people are born with mixed or indistinguishable genitals, there are several people who feel they were born with the wrong set, people whose gender changes from day to day, or who don't identify with one or the other at all. Cisgender privilege (which I’m sure I’m flashing all over the place) is something which the overwhelming portion of the population lives with and never thinks to unpack. If gender politics is at the core of your story, this is a part of that narrative I strongly recommend you include. This isn’t to say that you need to have a transsexual character, or touch upon transsexuality in your story. Your story might not center around gender politics. Your matriarchy might have a rigid gender dichotomy that means that any such individuals would never reveal it to anyone. You may have so much going on in your story that you feel incapable of having a transsexual character and being able to address it with the right depth (those of you who feel this way: might I suggest having a character who is transsexual rather than a transsexual character?). You might feel that your readers wouldn’t identify with a transsexual character, which, at least, seems to be the view of the publishing industry at present. But, for your own education of nothing else, I’d recommend doing a little googling to familiarize yourself with the idea. You might find that there’s room in your story after all.
There are a great many more examples of gender and gender roles not matching up. Women do not learn trades… unless they are the daughter of a sonless tradesman, or a tradesman’s widow. Women do not fight as warriors… unless they take it upon themselves to be shieldmaidens. Reality has always made exceptions in otherwise rigid gender hierarchies, and there’s no reason why your society shouldn’t make exceptions either. Figure out what they’re going to be, what their basis is, how they gain continuity. Do they become an institution in their own right and accept recruits, or are they a sign that things aren’t going to way society says they should? Are they treated as men, as women, as outcasts, as something entirely unique?
Think about it. I’m going to say this again and again in a variety of ways, but there should be more than one type of woman in your story, and more than one type of man, baring a male gendercide.
Values Language Reminder Intersections Resources
Here are a few tips to get you started.
Some animals with matriarchal hierarchies:
-Elephants
-Lemurs
-Bonobos
-Bison
-Ants
Non-Human Reproduction:
Alien women do not need to have a vagina. Alien men do not need to have a penis. Female and male are determined by which has the egg and which has the sperm. Your species could be like sea horses, where the female impregnates the male with her egg. It could involve members of both genders impregnating a third partner, who has a womb. Perhaps a forth gender does the actual breastfeeding, should your species be mammalian, or they could barf up food otherwise. Go as crazy as you want, if only so my inner twelve-year-old can giggle when the word ‘ovipositor’ appears. Just keep in mind that if you have more than two genders, then you are going to have to parse the dichotomy the rest of this guide talks about to fit the number of genders you do have.
Other Biological Reminders:
Your alien women do not need to be any physically smaller, weaker, or less able to bulk up than your alien men. They also do not need to live longer, be more flexible, or have a higher tolerance for pain. They can be aggressive. They can be brightly colored. They can have bigger teeth or sharper claws or plumes or anything else we associate with the male of the species. Not to sound like a broken record, but as long as you don’t contradict yourself we will buy anything.
Human Matriarchal Societies
I’m warning you right now, that there are going to be people who just will not buy this no matter what. Though we have had several matrilocal, matrilineal, and matrifocal societies on this world, we have yet to have a definitively matriarchal one. The theory that humanity started out goddess-worshipping and matriarchal before shifting to patriarchy around Ancient Sumerian time is a theory that has fallen out of favor with the mainstream scientific community. There are many people who posit that humanity is incapable of being matriarchal. And every single statement in this paragraph is as controversial as hell.
Don’t despair though: because these statements are controversial, they are also not absolute facts, and plenty of people who read for escapism or wish fulfillment or to find an answer to the question ‘what if’ will read your story with an open mind. But, as humanity is something with which your readers will be familiar with, you are going to have to build off of it, rather than working entirely off whole cloth. As mentioned in the Non-Human section, there will be the expectation that men will be bigger, stronger, and bulkier than women, and that women will be more flexible, live longer, and have a higher tolerance for pain. There will be the expectation that women will give birth to babies, should any baby-birthing take place in the story. Men will be at greater risk than women for things like colorblindness where the allele is found on the X chromosome. Similarly, there are going to be eyebrows raised if your men are more passive than women, as aggressiveness is something that has a biological basis as well as a societal one.
It’s not to say that you can’t find creative ways around this, only that your readership will demand an explanation, should your story begin with your colorblind protagonist working out her aggression by bench-pressing 260 lbs before coming home to her pregnant husband.
Non-Dichotomous Expressions of Gender
Sex and gender do not necessarily line up. And very, very often, gender and gender roles don’t line up either.
A great many stories don’t come close to touching on that first part. A great many modern-day societies don’t either. An indeterminable number of people are born with mixed or indistinguishable genitals, there are several people who feel they were born with the wrong set, people whose gender changes from day to day, or who don't identify with one or the other at all. Cisgender privilege (which I’m sure I’m flashing all over the place) is something which the overwhelming portion of the population lives with and never thinks to unpack. If gender politics is at the core of your story, this is a part of that narrative I strongly recommend you include. This isn’t to say that you need to have a transsexual character, or touch upon transsexuality in your story. Your story might not center around gender politics. Your matriarchy might have a rigid gender dichotomy that means that any such individuals would never reveal it to anyone. You may have so much going on in your story that you feel incapable of having a transsexual character and being able to address it with the right depth (those of you who feel this way: might I suggest having a character who is transsexual rather than a transsexual character?). You might feel that your readers wouldn’t identify with a transsexual character, which, at least, seems to be the view of the publishing industry at present. But, for your own education of nothing else, I’d recommend doing a little googling to familiarize yourself with the idea. You might find that there’s room in your story after all.
There are a great many more examples of gender and gender roles not matching up. Women do not learn trades… unless they are the daughter of a sonless tradesman, or a tradesman’s widow. Women do not fight as warriors… unless they take it upon themselves to be shieldmaidens. Reality has always made exceptions in otherwise rigid gender hierarchies, and there’s no reason why your society shouldn’t make exceptions either. Figure out what they’re going to be, what their basis is, how they gain continuity. Do they become an institution in their own right and accept recruits, or are they a sign that things aren’t going to way society says they should? Are they treated as men, as women, as outcasts, as something entirely unique?
Think about it. I’m going to say this again and again in a variety of ways, but there should be more than one type of woman in your story, and more than one type of man, baring a male gendercide.
Values Language Reminder Intersections Resources