Matriarchy vs. Patriarchy

[Emiscary]

So this is a question more than anything: can anyone here name a game world/fictional setting with BOTH of these hypothetical societies standing in opposition/contrast to each other? 'Cause I can't think of one offhand.

An example of a fictional matriarchy would be say... The Drow in DnD. A theocracy run by priestesses ruling over a class of hen pecked male servants.

The opposite: take the Skaven from Warhammer. Guys? An endless conquering horde spreading over the surface. Women? I read the newest Skaven background material, and their women are described as "massive, pale, and only partly sentient".

But I can't think of any game/book/w.e in which the two coexist. Am I imagining it?

 

[RJ 17]

Warcraft (at least the RTS):
The Horde = Patriarchy
Night Elves = Matriarchy

 

[Zhukov]

Mass Effect... kinda.

The Salarians are a matriarchy. Their major leaders are all female. (Same with Asari, but you could say they don't count since they're a mono-gendered species.)

The Turians and Krogan seem essentially patriarchal, although they are never described as such.

They're not "in opposition/contrast to each other" though. They're just there.

 

[Erana]

I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I must ask why you're interested in it in the first place. Assuming you're not interested in the "grls vs boys lol" aspect (which it doesn't seem like you are) there's still a huge can of philosophical (Or potentially just angry non-gamer) worms to deal with when you have those sort of structures in the game as a focus, especially when you try to play it straight. I don't think there's going to be a blockbuster title that does it right for some time; I'd suggest you look to literature instead. :/

 

[RJ 17]

Mass Effect... kinda.

The Salarians are a matriarchy. Their major leaders are all female. (Same with Asari, but you could say they don't count since they're a mono-gendered species.)

The Turians and Krogan seem essentially patriarchal, although they are never described as such.

Turians, maybe...never really says much about their government other than it being strictly military. I'd argue against the Krogan, though. Indeed it does seem like Males rule the roost, however they ALWAYS listen to the females when they speak.

In ME 2 when Wrex is describing the neutral-ground Female Camp where the females are shared, he mentions "It was the Female's idea." In ME 3, when Wrex mentions they use infertile females as bait, he again points out that it was the females' idea. While the male Krogan are definitely the more visible ruling class of Tuchanka, the views of the females seem to still be highly respected, if only in an unofficial manner.

 

[pure.Wasted]

Mass Effect... kinda.

The Salarians are a matriarchy. Their major leaders are all female. (Same with Asari, but you could say they don't count since they're a mono-gendered species.)

The Turians and Krogan seem essentially patriarchal, although they are never described as such.

ME2 hints and ME3 proves that Krogan are actually shockingly matriarchal. The Turians do seem very patriarchal, though, even if it's not explicitly stated.

There's also a character in the game called The Patriarch.

OP: StarCraft, at least the original. The Khalai Protoss are patriarchal, the Dark Templar are matriarchal.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

The Star Wars Expanded universe has two Matriarchy worlds (Hapes and Dathomir) and one Patriarchy (Ryloth) where the other gender is made slaves. Also the entire Galactic Empire is often accused in-universe of being chauvinist.

 

[Rednog]

Bioshock 2, Lamb (Matriarchy) vs Ryan (Patriarchy).
Surprised no one mentioned it.

 

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

Mass Effect... kinda.

The Salarians are a matriarchy. Their major leaders are all female. (Same with Asari, but you could say they don't count since they're a mono-gendered species.)

The Turians and Krogan seem essentially patriarchal, although they are never described as such.

They're not "in opposition/contrast to each other" though. They're just there.

The Turians government is only refered to as a heirachy so it may have an equal amount of females in it and I think the Salarians may also have a few males in their government.

OT: I don't think it counts but in Kingdom Hearts, the Heartless are lead by Maleficent (after "Ansem" is dead) while the Nobodies are run by mostly males, excluding Larxene (and Xion if you count her as a member of Organisation 13 to).

 

[Zen Toombs]

But I can't think of any game/book/w.e in which the two coexist. Am I imagining it?

Well, you mentioned the Drow in D&D, and in D&D all societies that oppose the Drow are either egalitarian or patriarchal. Just no love for women, I suppose.

Semi-Off Topic - why do you ask?

 

[Ryotknife]

star ocean 3: till the end of time

most of the game involves a war between a medieval "spiritual" matriarchy (who focus on technology/magic/spies) vs a typical medieval military patriarchy (who focus on knights/dragon riders/combined arms tactics). later on a certain event causes both sides to work together or face annihilation, at which point after the danger has passed they form a somewhat peaceful existence.

the first....75% of the game is pretty decent, but the plot twist towards the end just kinda ruins everything. and the voice acting/characters are pretty decent for the most part.

 

[NightHawk21]

Midkemia has both types of rule in addition to councils and god knows how many other types of governments. Mind you they exist mostly in novel form, and the games from what little I've seen are either old (really old) or super niche. However, the existence of the games qualifies me to list this example and still fit within the rules of fictional game world, so ha.

 

[Belaam]

The Stainless Steel Rats Sings the Blues

http://www.amazon.com/The-Stainless-Steel-Sings-Blues/dp/0553569392

Features a prison planet city with a wall down the middle. One side is men only, the other is women only. Each has their own government and often opposing goals. Children are conceived artificially.

On the down side, I think it is the absolute worst Stainless Steel Rat book (though I think there are two or three I haven't read).

 

[Xirath]

Mass Effect... kinda.


There's also a character in the game called The Patriarch.

his name really never really fit for me tho, always seemed strange /shrug

the Turian leader was the Primarch and based on military command structure, so since women serve in their military i would imagine they probably can hold positions of power as well, I feel this was more just a case of bioware not wanting to make multiple sexes for each species like us only seeing 1 or 2 female krogan.

most likely though its a matter of what is familiar for people. while there are some cultures that are at least matrilinear (trace lineage through the mother's bloodline) there are no anthropologically confirmed societies that has ever been a matriarchy.

*note* there is some contention over this regarding the definition applied to a matriarchy whereby many accept it as the inverse of a patriarchal society (men dominant over women) some scholars hold that there are some societies that were egalitarian between the sexes. http://www.gift-economy.com/athanor/athanor_005.html