Matriarchy and Matrscence

Speaker Series 2023 - 2024 - Matriarchy and Matrescence 

Report by Alice (L6)

On Friday the 15 of September, we started our lecture series with a fascinating lecture on the topic of Matriarchy and Matrescence: Power From Within from Mrs Kay-Barrero. This talk covered a wide variety of subjects, from history to religion, art, anthropology and even science. The beginning of the lecture discussed the role of women in religion, particularly Female gods, from many cultures, including the Ancient Greeks, Ancient Egyptians, and Hinduism. We also looked at what this can tell us about human society at the time, specifically that it was matriarchal.

We then went on to look at present day matriarchies and matrilineal cultures (where belongings and titles are passed through the maternal line). There were examples from all over the world, even in the animal kingdom! In elephant families (which are matriarchal) they value 'instinct as much as intellect, receptivity as much as assertiveness, collaboration as much as individualism, and empathy as much as objectivity'. This was an interesting point to consider as it made us think about how matriarchal societies must be very different from ours. It was also very interesting to find out that matriarchal societies still exist today.

The exploration of matriarchies and the innate qualities possessed by the women at the heart of them led into the second part of the lecture on the process of matrescence and how this exemplifies the ‘power within’ that women possess. Matrescence - meaning the developmental process of becoming a mother and the transformation in nearly every facet of a woman's life - is a relatively new scientific term, and was a brand new concept for almost everyone. It refers to both the physical and social changes a woman experiences when becoming a mother, and the impact this has for the rest of their lives. We also learnt that, despite this, there are still expectations on women to 'bounce back' and become their 'normal' selves after having a child, and there is still discrimination, especially in the workplace, towards women who are pregnant or have children.

In summary, we discovered that there is much we can learn from matriarchal societies, that we should respect and celebrate mothers (and all women!) and that we can and should continue to learn and explore new topics so that we can always be finding out new things about the world!

- Alice (L6)