In the shadow of the Himalayan mountains, at the edge of the lush, expansive Luga Lake, live the Mosuo people. Their complex social structure is said to be one of the last semi-matriarchal societies in the world, following a maternal bloodline and the practice of “walking marriage.” Women may choose and change partners as they wish, a structure that favors female agency over male dependence.
The matriarchs Klüppel met were “often very funny, and very active”, at odds with the German culture she is used to. “I saw an 80-year-old women carrying things I could no way carry myself,” she says. “Their bodies are really tense with power. I realized that physical strength really depends on what you do with your body – the women have more strength than the men!”
Though female dominance in the workspace is a rarity elsewhere in the world, the Mosuo’s “walking marriage” system is arguably the most unique – and exoticized – part of their culture. Progressively feminist or selectively misandrous, depending on how you look at it, tradition dictates that the Mosuo women’s partners only visit them at night, and these partners have very little to do with their children’s upbringing. Mosuo children stay with their mother’s families for life, and as such, the woman is the head of the household.
At a time when female empowerment is the global topic de jour, it seems painfully ironic that a culture where women truly prevail is on a steady decline.
Source: Where Women Reign: An Intimate Look Inside a Rare Kingdom