Gregory Parham
BI-219X
Dr. Hinks
23 May 2018
Artifact 2 / Gender and Culture
Throughout history, cultures have many different types of relationships dealing with genders through their society. Relationships can vary in different countries due to the kind of people, the religion they are worshipping, or it might just be with the families that are used to it, so it’s passed down from generation to generation. Cultures have three main kinships which are classified as: patrilineal, bilateral, matrilineal. Kinships are defined as a sharing of origins or characteristics throughout a culture, country, or society. Patrilineal is tracing descent through the male line, matrilineal through the female line, and bilateral is forming the equality between women and men. Factors such as the different type of production and the hierarchy of people living at that certain location to create a culture.
One matrilineal culture was the Iroquois from Northeastern North America, coming from the states of New York, and Ontario, Canada. Their mode of production consisted of farming and agriculture. Their culture came from the descents through the female line and the women had the responsibility of overseeing domestic tasks and enacting practices concerning the payment of fines in case of murders through the society. Women harvested, planted, gathered wild fruits and crops, did the childcare, and dispersed food to their families for the daily tasks, while men hunted, fished, and traded with other people for luxury articles and skin for protection. Throughout the society, everybody preached sanctioned equality and autonomy for women and men. The culture was described as matriarchy because women dominated the sociopolitical life and women were very prestigious in political participation in local and confederacy councils. Men usually complied with the wishes of their wives’ and there was no violence toward women. The more time went by though, men became more and more in charged and started to become more in charge on a daily basis.
Anyways, the Mosuo of China was named the Kingdom of Daughters and symbolized a matrilineal culture which meant tracing the descent through the female line just like the Iroquois of Northeastern North America. The way their generations work is totally different from a lot of countries such as their generations follow their mother surnames and each household consists of their mother’s brothers and sisters. The sisters of the birth mother were all misplaced as mothers to the children. Men and women were free to have multiple partners and could initiate or break off relationships when they please. Both of the cultures are the same due to the women holding the majority of the power and roles of the political leadership.