Post 4: A matrilineal society, not a matriarchal society

 

Unlike many Indian states, Meghalaya has a matrilineal system where women have a dominant role in society. In this society, the family's youngest daughter inherits all ancestral property; after marriage, the husbands live in the mother-in-law's home, and the children take the mother's surname. When no daughters are born to a couple, they adopt a daughter and pass their rights to her property. Different from many countries, they celebrate a girl's birth while a son's birth is simply accepted. 

However, while society is matrilineal, it is not matriarchal. During our third week of internship, we were asked to help prepare a focus group for the State Women Conference 2022. The main objective of the focus group was to diagnose rural women's issues related to gender roles, education, maternal and child health, labor, banking, and political participation. For the Conference, we designed the focus group interviews and actively listened to the discussions among the participants. Public leaders from the different sectors participated in the meeting and presented current governmental initiatives that address some of the women's concerns and issues. 

The discussion's main conclusions show that Meghalaya is not a matriarchal society, and there is a big gap between men and women regarding labor, political participation, and gender roles. Regarding gender roles, 95% of the participants think that girls should start being sexually active when they are 18-27. The remaining 5% believe they should start from 14 to 17. Nonetheless, most of them (65%) have never used contraceptives and claim that men should not be trained in contraceptive methods. Moreover, concerning labor markets, housewives are the ones that think it's more difficult for women to get a job compared to their husbands, and almost 80% of the participants feel that there are not enough available jobs for women and that they earn less. Finally, about political participation, 32 women out of 52 answered that it is hard for women to get involved in local Drobar or Nokma (political structure of Khasi culture) activities decisions. However, 29 think women should not be more involved in local Drobar or Nokma activities giving us the idea that women might not have enough incentives and power to participate in politics and make a change actively.

It is shocking to see that even in a matrilineal society, where women at least are more valued among their families, they still face discrimination and lack of opportunities within the community. Even so, I hope that changes that narrow the gap between men and women in this type of society are easier to implement and show rapid results.