A matriarchy would be better than a patriarchy for women?

[OutsideLookingOut]

I don't just mean women in charge, for example when Margaret Thatcher was PM that wasn't a matriarchy - she upheld typical patriarchal systems. I mean in a world primarily shaped by women - some examples might be medical research using female bodies, women seen as the default human.

Would we fall into the inverse problems the patriarchy presents? i.e. the patriarchy can hurt men as well as women - they can't express emotions other than anger because that would be gay or feminine. I wonder if motherhood would be put on a pedestal (though patriarchy has done this forever without actually ever helping women), would we still have capitalism...?

Or would the world be a better place?

I don't know which threads/situation you are referring to but, and I say this as a woman who has seen other women defending some pretty horrible males, is it possible that women on those topics are more likely to enable men who are beefed up by the patriarchy? If they are powerless and rely on men for their wealth and security (maybe because that's how they have been bought up in our patriarchal society) they have learned that the woman is mainly there for breeding. You can see this is the root of misogyny in many cases. Women aren't exempt from absorbing this repeated message in a patriarchal society.

I would argue that a matriarchal society would be better for all if it had a long enough time to flourish. When women are unthreatened and safe they are a lot more outward thinking than men and have more of an ability to focus on the bigger picture and greater good. Think of generations of children especially boys, brought up in a fairer and more balanced society. That’s why any women with a strong voice is ridiculed and silenced as quickly as possible, it’s a huge threat.

Its also reminds me of the current obsession of colonising Mars/space "for the good of civilisation". I grew up loving astronomy/obsessing over space/dreaming of whether we would ever actually explore further out. But this leaves me cold. Its the contrast between the Carl Sagan/Douglass Adams view of the cosmos as being this amazing place we exist in that makes us feel small but also significant all at the same time. Versus the Cecil Rhodes/Elon Musk view of space which is essentially looking up at the unimaginable splendour of the universe and thinking "I wish I owned that". Vile arrogant pricks.
Carl Sagan was a bloke, so as I said it isn't that all men think like Cecil Rhodes. It is more that the people who do think like Cecil Rhodes tend to be male and we live in a world that rewards them.

I agree with you about defence. It isn't that I think society would be so super kin d and gentle however than I think it would threaten (just in ideology) patriarchal systems. They would see it as a threat (while also thinking it must be weak) and try to abolish it and if it is say one matriarchy against many patriarchies...

I mean even Elizabeth I's great speech made reference to her weak female body

"I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm: to which rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take up arms, ..."

It is not so much that women do not have fighting spirit and they can be great agents of men because it is ideology and smarts that matters most. But what when they are fighting for women and not male interest.

That is so sad, I'm sorry. I think I remember that thread or at least one where people were saying the elderly should give up their specious houses (and these were owned houses) to families with children. And single people should all live in a house share or something even if they could afford a flat/house or needed the space (never mind just wanted it as if we don't have a right to want things). There are people who think they deserve everything and anyone not like them does not deserve a thing. I don't think that is unique to women however. I use reddit a lot and there are men with similar views. I mean look at JD Vance thinking "childless cat ladies" should not get a say when voting (or less of a say than parents?). I think part of the problem lies in increasing cost of living and the fact we have a housing crises.

I don't deny though that it is my worry that a matriarchy would put less value on the single and childless/childfree too. I think it would be born out of "need" and "finite resources" but would all needs be considered equally?

I love this point! Agree completely. We reward people who take, plunder and hoard. Who see people as $$$ only. I also loved space and technology. I saw it as a means for exploration, research etc etc but I feel so dispirited by the way I see things going and the way people in my last job were treated. I wanted to do something far more meaningful than what was misrepresented to me. All that mattered was money not safety or ethics or even quality of what was being produced.

Musk's pronatalism to me is most disturbing as it seems he only wishes to have a larger workforce to exploit. While we live in such a system I can only hope the birth rate continues to plummet.