I once watched a documentary on Germaine Greer and "The Female Eunuch" at the beginning of the documentary she talked about the history of oppression on women, and seemed to be stating that ALL societies throughout history repressed women. But I know that there were some very ancient societies where women were equal, and maybe even more powerful than men, such as the Celts, and the legendary Amazon women, and the queen of Sheba was said to be a queen of a matriarchal society.

But Germaine Greer, along with many other sources of information, don’t seem to acknowledge this. it annoys me because the chauvinists could just say that as there were no exceptions to the rule that men are "superior" that its just how things are meant to be. If you try typing in matriarchal societies in to Google, then all you get are websites saying that it was an idea that was never put in to practice, but it doesn't seem to be that way for me. So why wont people talk about these societies?

I think that Native American and other indigenous communities have more equitable roots that more recent cultures. These aren't matriarchal per se— but they were developed in a very organic way and one that prioritized all members of that community and simply prioritized equality.

The problem with some matriarchal cultures is that they aren't any better than patriarchal cultures — as in one group is afforded more power and one less — so I don't think that they are entirely the solution. However, it's also true that matriarchal cultures are definitely more equitable. There are a few books that promote these cultures — one by Ann Jones on the Lovedu. I would also check out the work of Sally Roesch Wagner who talks about Native American equality.

-- Amy