[Glorantha] Re: Matriarchy

In message <20060705105943.4126.qmail@web51005.mail.yahoo.com> Simon Phipp writes:

>> I don't think this is matriarchy at all. It's typical of rural
>> communities across Europe before the industrial revolution and
>> I've encountered remnants within my lifetime. It's a division
>> of labour thing - the man rules outside the house while the
>> woman rules inside. Even in England when women were legally
>> little more than chattels upper class women used to run their
>> husband's houses and all hundreds of staff.
>
> Where this is an ancient practise, it may have come from an
>originally matriarchal society, the customs surviving in a
>reduced form.

Could be, although for it to have survived for thousands of years and numerous population shifts implies there was a sound practical reason to retain it.

>It's odd because one of the sources for Heortling (and hence some
>Esrolian) backgrounds is the Celtic system and that was originally
>matriarchal. But, I suppose much of that has been lost over the years.

There's a big debate about how matriarchal the Celtic system was. It was certainly less sexist than the Roman one but there is very little evidence of matriarchy and what evidence there is paints a picture of patriarchy. That may be because it relies on the writings of Christian monks towards the end of the Celtic period.

-- 
Donald Oddy
http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/