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Matriarchy in Name Only: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
In a fantasy world where women are considered to be the ruling gender and men are not, unlike the opposite that occurs in the overwhelming majority of civilizations in the real world, it raises some problems. Most writers do not have experience living in a civilization where women are the ruling class, and, as [[Most Writers Are Male]], they can often be a little less mindful of what about female behaviour is naturally female and what is a sexist distortion. And if they're writing a Sexy Matriarchy for personal gratification purposes, they aren't going to really care. This is all very well and good, but it can cause [[Selective Squick]] for viewers who are seeking examples of genuinely assertive female characters in a believable speculative fiction setting.
That's when you get a Matriarchy In Name Only - a world where, despite women technically being in charge, the society contains very strong elements of a patriarchy. Maybe the men are supposedly treated as sex objects, but women dress in sexy clothes to impress their male slaves. Maybe the women rule by staying at home, and the men go out to [[Men Act, Women Are|actually influence the plot]]. Or maybe the main arbiters of power are women, but they all bow to a male demon that mind-controls their entire race. Whatever it is, it's clear that this world reflects our [[Gender Dynamics Index|beliefs about gender.]] For those not used to this kind of analysis, it could be worth asking some of the following questions to a prospective "matriarchy":
# Ignoring ceremonial titles, who gets their ideas realized in this society?
# In practice, which gender has the most to choose from in terms of lifestyle?
# Following that, who is representing the culture to the outside world as well as to the audience?
# Is it possible to see the [[Male Gaze]] in how the society is depicted?
# How do male and female characters actually value the genders and things associated with them?
A subtrope of [[Matriarchy]]. Can overlap with, or be the cause of, Sexy Matriarchy and Sexist Matriarchy. May also occur in Enlightened Matriarchies. Also includes societies that are supposed to be gender-equal, but show signs of still being skewed towards men. This can be done as a serious satirical point, and is not automatically sexist.
Can be a subtrope of the [[Rule-Abiding Rebel]], if the author/publisher promotes the work as progressive/radical/controversial, but at heart, it's pretty conservative. Compare [[Faux Action Girl]].
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{{examples}}
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== Tabletop RPGs ==
* The Drow in ''[[Dungeons
* [[Traveller]]: Played with among Aslan. Male and Female Aslan are roughly equal in status but their domination of separate roles make them a [[Fantastic Caste System]].
* The Realm in ''[[Exalted]]'' is described as a mildly matriarchal society (albeit one where other prejudices matter a lot more than sexism). However, the canonical books have a lot of information about life in the Realm, and there's absolutely no sign that men face any kind of discrimination whatsoever, or that male authority figures are considered even slightly unusual. To all appearances, it's really a strictly gender-egalitarian society that happens to be led by an Empress.
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* The salarians of ''[[Mass Effect]]'' have strict "matriarchal" gender roles, but in practice this results in all the women being [[Stay in the Kitchen|kept on their planet, breeding]], while the men are soldiers, commanders and officers and get to go into space. The females supposedly retain all the political power, at least according to the in-game Codex, but it's not until the final game of the trilogy that players actually encounter any sign of this whatsoever (in fact, the whole thing seems to mostly be an excuse to avoid depicting female salarians at all).
* ''[[Master of Orion]] II'' hints at this with the Elerian race. The [[All There in the Manual|written text]] states that the women are the dominant gender, but the only explicitly stated role that men have in Elerian society is in exerting ''mind control''. In addition, most of the Elerian women sprites are scantily-clad [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|technicolor-skinned space babes]], so this may overlap with Sexy Matriarchy as well.
* The Night Elves of ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. On the surface it looks good—but this is a society that divides its genders sharply, with the women making up the military force and worshiping the moon goddess Elune and the men engaging in druidism and worshiping the forest demigod Cenarius, and the society is ruled jointly by the heads of the respective religion. In practice, the high priestess is pretty much a placeholder for her comatose husband, and engaged in a rivalry with her conscious druid counterpart. It is, curiously enough, the druids that go out into the world to help the rest of the Alliance, not the army, and they also get way more credit for their work than the army. Adding insult to injury, game mechanics have the default female dance of the Night Elves be something of a stripper's dance, and the artwork always show them in teeny tiny outfits—even as warriors.
* The Qunari of [[Dragon Age]] are said to have women hold the political power at home—but not only do we never see them in game, the only leaders actually referred to are men.
* The Liontaurs of ''[[Quest for Glory]] III'' are described as having a social structure that mimics that of real-world lions. Males are believed to be too emotional to make good decisions, so the society is governed by a ruling council of females; while there's a king, he's supposedly a powerless figurehead. In the actual game, though, you spend a lot of time trying to influence the king's opinion and very little on the council, just as if his opinion was the one that actually counted.
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[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:Gender and Sexuality Tropes]]
[[Category:
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