Editing Matriarchy (section)

==In popular culture==

===Ancient theatre===
* As criticism in 390 BC, [[Aristophanes]] wrote a play, ''[[Ecclesiazusae]]'', about women gaining legislative power and governing [[Athens]], Greece, on a limited principle of equality. In the play, according to Mansfield, Praxagora, a character, argues that women should rule because they are superior to men, not equal, and yet she declines to assert publicly her right to rule, although elected and although acting in office.<ref name="Manliness-p73-74-n">{{harvp|Mansfield|2006|loc=pp. 73–74 & n. 37}}, citing Strauss, Leo, ''Socrates and Aristophanes'' (N.Y.: Basic Books, 1966), ch. 9, and Saxonhouse, Arlene W., ''Fear of Diversity'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), ch. 1.</ref> The play, Mansfield wrote, also suggests that women would rule by not allowing politics, in order to prevent disappointment, and that affirmative action would be applied to heterosexual relationships.<ref name="Manliness-p73-74-n"/> In the play, as Mansfield described it, written when Athens was a male-only democracy where women could not vote or rule, women were presented as unassertive and unrealistic, and thus not qualified to govern.<ref name="Manliness-p73-74-n"/> The play, according to Sarah Ruden, was a fable on the theme that women should stay home.<ref>{{harvp|Ruden|2010|p=79}}</ref>

===Literature===
* [[Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett]]'s ''[[New Amazonia|New Amazonia: A Foretaste of the Future]]'' is an early feminist utopian novel (published 1889), which is matriarchal in that all political leadership roles in New Amazonia are required to be held by women, according to Duangrudi Suksang.<ref>Suksang, Duangrudi, ''Overtaking Patriarchy: Corbett's and Dixie's Visions of Women'', in ''Utopian Studies'', vol. 4, no. 2 (1993), pp. 74–93.</ref>
* [[Roquia Sakhawat Hussain]]'s ''[[Sultana's Dream]]'' is an early feminist utopia (published 1905) based on advanced science and technology developed by women, set in a society, Ladyland, run by women, where "the power of males is taken away and given to females," and men are secluded and primarily attend to domestic duties, according to Seemin Hasan.<ref>Hasan, Seemin, ''Feminism and Feminist Utopia in Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain's ''Sultana's Dream, in Kidwai, A.R., ed., ''Behind the Veil: Representation of Muslim Woman in Indian Writings in English 1950–2000'' (APH Publishing Corp., 2007). [http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/sultana/dream/dream.html ''Sultana's Dream'' (Digital.library.upenn.edu)].</ref>
* [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]'s book, ''[[The Ruins of Isis]]'' (1978), is, according to Batya Weinbaum, set within a "female supremacist world".<ref>Weinbaum, Batya, ''Sex-Role Reversal in the Thirties: Leslie F. Stone's 'The Conquest of Gola,{{'}}'' in ''Science Fiction Studies'', vol. 24, no. 3 (November, 1997), pp.&nbsp;471–482.  ([http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/73/weinbaum73.htm www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/73/weinbaum73.htm alternative availability]).</ref>
* In [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]]'s book, ''[[The Mists of Avalon]]'' (1983), Avalon is an island with a matriarchal culture, according to Ruben Valdes-Miyares.<ref>Valdes-Miyares, Ruben, ''Morgan's Queendom: The Other Arthurian Myth'', in Alvarez Faedo, Maria Jose, ed., ''Avalon Revisited: Reworkings of the Arthurian Myth'' (Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2007).</ref>
* In [[Orson Scott Card]]'s ''[[Speaker for the Dead]]'' (1986) and its sequels, the alien pequenino species in every forest are matriarchal.<ref>[http://www.brighthubeducation.com/homework-help-literature/83451-speaker-for-the-dead-summary-chapter-summaries/ ''Bright Hub Education'' (book summary)].</ref>
* In [[Sheri S. Tepper]]'s book, ''[[The Gate to Women's Country]]'' (1988), the only men who live in Women's Country are the "servitors," who are servants to the women, according to Peter Fitting.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fitting |first1=Peter |title=Reconsiderations of the Separatist Paradigm in Recent Feminist Science Fiction |journal=Science Fiction Studies |date=1992 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=32–48 |jstor=4240119 }}</ref>
* [[Élisabeth Vonarburg]]'s book, ''[[Chroniques du Pays des Mères]]'' (1992) (translated into English as ''In the Mothers' Land'') is set in a matriarchal society where, due to a genetic mutation, women outnumber men by 70 to 1.<ref>Vonarburg (1992)</ref>
* [[N. Lee Wood]]'s book ''Master of None'' (2004) is set in a "closed matriarchal world where men have no legal rights", according to ''[[Publishers Weekly]]''.<ref>[http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-446-69304-2 ''Publishers Weekly'' (book review (reviewed September 27, 2004))].</ref>
* [[Wen Spencer]]'s book ''A Brother's Price'' (2005) is set in a world where, according to Page Traynor, "women are in charge", "boys are rare and valued but not free", and "boys are kept at home to do the cooking and child caring until the time they marry".<ref>[http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/brothers-price Traynor, Page, ''A Brother's Price'', in ''RT Book Reviews'' (review)].</ref>
* [[Elizabeth Bear]]'s ''[[Carnival (Bear novel)|Carnival]]'' (2006) introduces New Amazonia, a colony planet with a matriarchal and largely lesbian population who eschew the strict and ruthless population control and environmentalism instituted on Earth. The Amazonians are aggressive, warlike, and subjugate the few men they tolerate for reproduction and service, but they are also pragmatic and defensive of their freedom from the male-dominated Coalition that seeks to conquer them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://io9.gizmodo.com/387818/environmental-fascists-fight-gun-loving-lesbians-for-alien-technology|title=Environmental Fascists Fight Gun-Loving Lesbians for Alien Technology|publisher=[[io9]]|first=Annalee|last=Newitz|author-link=Annalee Newitz|date=6 May 2008|access-date=19 January 2016}}</ref>
* In [[Naomi Alderman]]'s book, ''[[The Power (Alderman novel)|The Power]]'' (2016), women develop the ability to release electrical jolts from their fingers, thus leading them to become the dominant gender.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/the-power-by-naomi-alderman-80fx3zcgg|title=The Power by Naomi Alderman|work=[[The Times]]|first=Francesca|last= Steele|date=15 October 2016}}</ref>
* [[Jean M. Auel]]'s ''[[Earth's Children]]'' (1980–2011).
* In the [[SCP Foundation]], which is a collaborative online horror fiction website, the Daevites are an ancient society in which women took the roles of both religious and political leaders, and men often take the place of slaves<ref>{{Cite web |title=Daevite Hub – SCP Foundation |url=https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/daevite-hub |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=The SCP Foundation |language=en}}</ref>

===Film===
* In the 2011 ''[[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]]'' animated film [[Mars Needs Moms]]'', Mars is ruled by a female Martian known only as The Supervisor, who long ago deemed all male Martians to the trash underground and kept all women in functioning society. The film reveals The Supervisor, for an unexplained reason, changed how Martian society was being run (from children being raised by parents) to Martian children being raised by "Nannybots". The Supervisor sacrifices one Earth mother every twenty-five years for that mother's knowledge of order, discipline and control, which is transferred to the Nannybots who raise the female Martians.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}
* The 2023 film ''[[Barbie (film)|Barbie]]'' depicts a world (Barbieland) ruled entirely by Barbies in positions such as doctors, scientists, lawyers, and politicians while the Kens spend their time at the beach.

=== Television ===
* In the special [[The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!]], Blossom wanted society to based on the [[African elephant|African Elephant]]; in which only women vote & "Stinky & Dumb" men are relegated to house tasks.
* In the [[Futurama]] episode [[Amazon Women in the Mood]], the crew land on a planet ruled by giant muscular women.
* [[Fumi Yoshinaga]]'s manga [[Ōoku: The Inner Chambers]], published between 2004 and 2020,  follows an alternate history of Japan in which most of the male population is killed by a disease, resulting in a matriarchal society. It is best known in the United States by its 2023 [[Netflix]] adaptation of the same name.<ref name="Ōoku">{{cite news |last1=Pineda |first1=Rafael Antonio |title=Ōoku: The Inner Chambers Anime's English-Subtitled Trailer Reveals June 29 Debut |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-05-22/ooku-the-inner-chambers-anime-english-subtitled-trailer-reveals-june-29-debut/.198341 |publisher=Anime News Network |date=22 May 2023}}</ref>