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« Flickr photos of Minneapolis bridge collapse | Main | Taking Things Seriously » Friday, August 3, 2007Women on topThe Wilson Quarterly this month has a special section devoted to "Women in Charge." In a piece called "A Woman's World" (subscribers only), writer Sara Sklaroff does some serious reporting -- for example, quizzing the anthropologist Peggy Reeves Sanday, of the University of Pennsylvania, on what life is like in one of the world's few matrilineal societies, the Minangkabau people of Indonesia. Sklaroff's summary: Decisions are made by consensus, and the Minangkabau keep one another in line by enforcing their custom of acting for the common good. Each sex has its own, well-defined realm. Men perform starring roles in religion and governance (though clearly within a domain constructed by women), while women are leaders in culture, education, and ceremony -- and "hold the keys to the rice house," making the important economic decisions. More fun is Sklaroff's mental experiment of imagining how things would look if our own society suddenly -- or over a few decades -- switched over to the Minangkabau model ... if we went matrilineal. It will certainly be a nicer place to live -- more attractive, friendlier, and much, much cleaner. You'll be able to find a decent bathroom wherever you go. Delicious, high-quality salads will be sold everywhere -- not the wilted, uninspired packages grudgingly offered at corner delis or Starbucks, but fresh, innovative compositions that will make dieting a snap. This will be a woman's world, and men will have to learn to fit in. Industrial design will be based on an average woman's size, not a man's, so men will have to squeeze themselves into public bus seats and crouch down to reach items on supermarket shelves. Standard portion sizes at restaurants will be smaller; those who wish to eat more (usually men) will have to pay more. Other pricing schemes that currently favor men will be reversed: Dry cleaning and haircuts, for example, will conform to a flat-fee system. Anyone else have any thoughts about how U.S. society would change were it suddenly "feminized"?  Posted by Christopher Shea at 05:36 PM
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