Recently feminist scholar Vicki Noble said this is the best definition of patriarchy she has read–but she hadn’t known of it earlier! I am am republishing it now in hopes that all of you will share it on your… Read More ›
Egalitarian Matriarchy
Masculine: Aggressive/Feminine: Passive: Can We Imagine Alternatives? by Carol P. Christ
Today a couple of friends and I were discussing egalitarian matriarchal values. I stated that in these societies there is no great difference in male and female personalities because both males and females are expected to be as kind and… Read More ›
Ancient Mothers, I Hear You Calling Me to Crete by Carol P. Christ
On a cold and rainy morning in Lesbos, I ponder the advice of my intuitive friend Cristina to reflect on the spiritual dimensions of my decision to move to Crete. When asked why I am moving from Lesbos to Crete,… Read More ›
Matriarchies Are Not Just a Reversal of Patriarchies: A Structural Analysis by Heide Goettner-Abendroth
Matriarchies are not just a reversal of patriarchies, with women ruling over men – as the usual misinterpretation would have it. Matriarchies are mother-centered societies. They are based on maternal values: care-taking, nurturing, mothering. This holds for everybody: for mothers… Read More ›
Do We Have to Hate Our Mothers? No, We Do Not! by Carol P. Christ
It is commonly accepted in American culture that children–boys especially–must go through a “phase” where they hate their mothers in order to grow up. We are told that the mother-child bond is so intense as to become suffocating. We are… Read More ›
Why Can’t a Man Be More Like a Woman? by Carol P. Christ (and Hannah Gadsby)
Women are loving, caring, and clever. Why do men say: “I will not be like that, never?” In a recent article in Gentlemen’s Quarterly, my favorite comedian, Hannah Gadsby, said: Hello, the men. My advice on modern masculinity would be… Read More ›
Iroquoian Women: Power Held and Shared by Carol P. Christ
According to Barbara Alice Mann, author of Iroquoian Women, women were at the center of a matrilineal Iroquoian society that could be called (though she does not call it that) an “egalitarian matriarchy.” As in other egalitarian matriarchies, including those… Read More ›
The Ninth Touchstone: Repair the Web by Carol P. Christ
As I reflected on the Nine Touchstones again recently, I was pleased to discover that the first and the eighth touchstones are articulations of the central values of egalitarian matriarchal societies. Few of us live today in egalitarian matriarchies, and… Read More ›
Nurture Life: Ethics of Goddess Spirituality by Carol P. Christ
Nurture life. Walk in love and beauty. Trust the knowledge that comes through the body. Speak the truth about conflict, pain, and suffering. Take only what you need. Think about the consequences of your actions for seven generations. Approach the… Read More ›
A Question about “Egalitarian Matriarchy” in West Sumatra by Carol P. Christ
Following up on my recent blogs on the roles of women in the Neolithic revolution and on “egalitarian matriarchy,” I have been re-reading Peggy Reeves Sanday’s ground-breaking book, Women at the Center, about the survival of the “adat matriarchaat” (the… Read More ›
Women and Men in “Egalitarian Matriarchy” by Carol P. Christ
When the word “matriarchy” is spoken, the first question that comes up is: what about men? Most people imagine that matriarchy must oppress men—just as patriarchy oppresses women. Sadly, concern about the oppression of women in patriarchy is less automatic…. Read More ›
How “Egalitarian Matriarchy” Works among the Minangkabau of West Sumatra by Carol P. Christ
Currently I am reading Peggy Reeves Sanday’s a-mazing book Women at the Center: Life in a Modern Matriarchy for the third time. In it Sanday describes the living egalitarian matriarchal culture of four million people of the Minangkabau culture of… Read More ›
What Is “Egalitarian Matriarchy” and Why Is It So Often Misunderstood? by Carol P. Christ
In their purest form, “egalitarian matriarchies” place the mother principle at the center of culture and society. Their highest values are the love, care, and generosity they associate with motherhood. These values are not limited to women and girls. Boys… Read More ›
The Heraklion Museum: A Critique of the Neolithic Display by Carol P. Christ
If I had been asked to write the words that introduce visitors to the Heraklion Archaeological Museum of Crete to its earliest inhabitants, I would have said something like this: While there is evidence that human beings visited Crete as… Read More ›
Learning Gratitude for the Gifts of Life on the Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete by Carol P. Christ
In Crete we are always being given gifts—fresh cherries, ice cold bottles of raki, yogurt swimming in honey, and so much more. Over the years it finally hit me that this spirit of great generosity is a living remnant of… Read More ›
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