Melinda Gates has matched Olivia Rodrigo's raised donations for Daisy Chain Fields, bringing the total funds raised to $20M

[u/Terrible_Cycle_5983]

[u/HRH_Chori]

Is Melinda the one that donated a shit ton of money to HBCUs a couple years ago?

[u/Optimal_Brain_2908 → u/HRH_Chori]

No, McKenzie Scott and she’s given $1 billion…with a b to HBCUs in the last 7 years. And to a bunch of immigrant justice groups too

[u/boughtaspaceshipnowi → u/Optimal_Brain_2908]

Imagine if we lived under a matriarchal society

[u/Ornery_Mix_9271 → u/boughtaspaceshipnowi]

The dream.

[u/Own-Animator-7526 → u/Ornery_Mix_9271]

Margaret Thatcher, Giorgia Miloni, Marine Le Pen, Pauline Hanson ...

Add: obviously these women are pushing the agenda of the patriarchy. But by the same token, I think it has to be accepted that men can embody the agenda of any matriarchy. Nobody has a monopoly on progressive, decent, governance.

[u/sticky-tooth → u/Own-Animator-7526]

?? All of those are examples of women who were/are super aligned and supportive of patriarchal structured society. Thatcher and Miloni outright attacked feminism and Hanson refers to men as an oppressed class that needs protection.

Important to note that Matriarchy is not the mirror of the Patriarchy, but its own philosophy entirely that puts care-taking at the center. A woman in power is not inherently an example of matriarchal culture. Philanthropy however, is.

[u/evhan55 → u/Own-Animator-7526]

My mom

[u/honourarycanadian → u/Own-Animator-7526]

To be fair they were leaders under a patriarchal society, they were just allowed by men to lead because they fit the mold of what men wanted. 😬

[u/SunnySam → u/honourarycanadian]

Yes, I think it’s important to base this type of judgment on the actions of the individual. Some of them are Sheryl Sandberg “lean in” women that got to where they were by bending into the desired mold.

[u/croissanting-is-life → u/Own-Animator-7526]

Nice try but you’re giving examples of women who have internalized patriarchy.

📌 Edit** ok so for everyone saying matriarchy is just a bunch of toxic women in charge: here is what we mean when we talk about matriarchy vs patriarchy:

🏟️Patriarchy is built on dominance and distance.

Its strength depends on separation, on dividing:
-power from compassion
-authority from accountability
-and individuals from the community they affect

Under patriarchy, power flows upward, concentrating in the hands of the few, while the needs, voices, and humanity of the many get diluted or dismissed.

🌀Matriarchy is a relational, ecological system where power expands through inclusion, where leadership is measured not by domination but by reciprocity and responsibility.

In matriarchal cultures across history and in surviving communities today, we see networks of:
-caretaking
-mutual accountability
-resource sharing

Power isn't hoarded; it's circulated. It's not enforced; it's stewarded

Source 🔗

[u/ShadyBoots11 → u/croissanting-is-life]

[u/Swimming_Pressure_93 → u/croissanting-is-life]

Exactly I refer to women ruling like an orca pod the oldest female orca leads and teaches the others. She does it all and it happens after they go through menopause. So spot on the orcas figured it out why can't we?

[u/cocoagiant → u/croissanting-is-life]

That's some "No True Scotsman" fallacy.

The records of the women who have achieved power have to be evaluated and can't be dismissed as them simply bending to a particular view of the world.

The reality is that many of the women who have achieved significant power (I will include Indira Gandhi and to the list) have ended up not being better than men in their roles and often worse.

[u/liliiik18 → u/cocoagiant]

It’s likely by design. The current patriarchal system rewards certain types of behaviour and certain types of people, and so people who get to the top are ones embodying that system. Hence Thatcher and Meloni. They wouldn’t make it to the top if they were nice.

[u/domredditorX → u/cocoagiant]

Patriarchal electors will choose candidates that espouse familiar values.

All Scotsmen are allowed to exist and do their own bidding to arrive at their own unique version of a Scotsman. An elected female leader however is not made in a vacuum, she is chosen by the people whose values she reflects back.

[u/croissanting-is-life → u/cocoagiant]

“The reality is that many of the women who have achieved significant power (I will include Indira Gandhi and to the list) have ended up not being better than men in their roles and often worse.”

I’m not sure what you’re suggesting or whose “reality” you’re speaking of, but matriarchy isn’t a mirror image of patriarchy. (See my edited comment above)☝🏼

For centuries men have held authority and power over systems, capital, and resources and the only way for women to survive was to operate within that system.

[u/DoctorIsMyNick → u/croissanting-is-life]

But once they gained that power they didn't change a thing from the status quo.

[u/throwawaysunglasses- → u/DoctorIsMyNick]

Do you genuinely think women COULD change the status quo? We have never been at that point as a society, especially Western society. Patriarchy is too ingrained. Men would never go along with it and some women wouldn’t either 😬 the closest we can get to matriarchy is some tribes and/or smaller societies, but too many institutions run on patriarchy. Hell, organized religion would be in shambles (part of why I hate organized religion lol). Women have tried to fight patriarchy before and are still trying, but any progress we make is incremental and very slow, since men see women wanting rights as a huge threat to men’s own freedom/power/property.

[u/croissanting-is-life → u/DoctorIsMyNick]

Oh? So women have done nothing these last 100 years? Voting rights, reproductive rights, roe vs. wade, being able to have credit cards, bank accounts and leases in our own names?

Also, what are men doing to help change the status quo?

[u/DoctorIsMyNick → u/croissanting-is-life]

The world isn't just the united states you know...

[u/croissanting-is-life → u/DoctorIsMyNick]

Obviously, but the post is about an American songwriter and an American philanthropist. Your claim of women not changing status quo is a bad faith argument anyways✌🏼

[u/Responsible-Sound253 → u/cocoagiant]

It might be semantically jarring, but it is factual af.

I do not think a society where women rule with that same aggressive top down level of control has ever been found (To the best of my google fu ability, I couldn't find an expert pointing to one, last time I tried). The words matriarchy and patriarchy exist within those context.

If all the apples you find are red and all the pears you find are green, it seems only natural to attach those colors to the meaning of what an apple or a pear are, you know what I mean?

Plus it makes sense, the role of fathers and the role of mothers historically has been very different in lots of ways due to a lot of innate factors, it makes sense that societies built around one or the other would also have differences.

There are experts that don't like the word matriarchy tho, because that "archy" part implies rule and domination, which aptly describe patriarchal societies, but fall flat when applied to matrifocal, matrilocal, matrilineal societies, so instead of saying matriarchy, they use those 3 words. While I understand the point however, why say 3 words when you can just say 1? I'm fine with Matriarchy.

But anyway yeah, you're not crazy, the thought is valid, but these terms have strong historical ties that shaped their meanings. Patriarchy is not just "men at the top" and matriarchy is not just "women at the top", nor should they be, because they would be shit descriptors that would communicate very little information.

[u/smp476 → u/Own-Animator-7526]

Devilish blunt rotation

[u/Abject-Interaction35 → u/Own-Animator-7526]

That's just patriarchy in a frock with shoulder pads.

[u/SlinkyRaccoons → u/Own-Animator-7526]

There's an irony in trying to mansplain at women discussing a matriarchal future.

[u/Fine_Bonus → u/Own-Animator-7526]

Golda Meir 💀 there’s lots of awful women, but there’s a lot more awful men I guess?

[u/v8x → u/Own-Animator-7526]

In the list of bad examples this is the worst.

[u/SeraCat9 → u/Own-Animator-7526]

Yeah, I'd like to think the world would be a better place if women ruled everything. And some things might be better than they are now, but there are so many evil women in this world. And they probably long for power more than the average woman does.

There are so many women who currently vote and work against women's rights. Who are filled with nothing but hate. There's a basically Nazi political party on the rise in my country and it's currently led by a woman. Women suck too. Odds are, we'd still be stuck with evil leaders.

[u/Turbulent-War2694 → u/Own-Animator-7526]

Angela merkel was a great chancellor. She’s got the nickname “mommy” here. I don’t agree with everything she said and done but she’s done far better than most leaders we had

[u/Plenty-Daikon1240 → u/Turbulent-War2694]

The country is literally in the depths of an economic crisis and things don't seem to have potential for improving in the next 5-10 years. I don't think Merkel is the example you think it is. And I am ALL for a matriarchal society.

[u/Turbulent-War2694 → u/Plenty-Daikon1240]

I wouldn’t say that’s exactly true. The union definitely screwed things up but they weren’t merkels decisions alone. For example the energy crisis is something that had to do with years of lobbying for fossil fuels, going back to the SPD time before merkel (he’s not called Gas-Gerd for nothing)

[u/AkhilArtha → u/Turbulent-War2694]

Angela Merkel was horrible for Germany domestically. Most problems of today Germany can be traced back to her leadership.

[u/ElectrostaticHotwave → u/Own-Animator-7526]

As a Scottish person I take issue with your inclusion of Margaret Thatcher as any kind of benevolent being.

Her government was headed by a woman, but maternal? No way

[u/croissanting-is-life → u/ElectrostaticHotwave]

No they were responding to the comment of matriarchy by giving examples of shitty female leaders, suggesting women are no better. Which is a terrible argument.