Which animals have matriarchal herds? Matriarchy and patriarchy: the difference in the desire to transform nature and society

Which animals have way of life Is there matriarchy?

Matriarchy is a form of social structure in which family power belongs to women.
MANY EXAMPLES: a few of them
BISON
Bison live a long time: females - up to thirty years, males - a little less. Such longevity is facilitated by a healthy “moral climate” in a strictly balanced family. A separate herd consists of an adult, seasoned bull, four to five queens and a crowd of young calves. The head of the family rarely participates in “female squabbles.” In the uterine group, everything is run by a highly experienced, wise and powerful bison matriarch. Based on her behavior, “facial expressions and gestures,” other females correct their own actions and intentions.
http://vecherka.ru/Jivojugolok/1634
HYENA
Found throughout almost all of Africa spotted hyenas, more distantly related to cats than to dogs. Hyenas live united in clans, and females lead the clan. The matriarchy that reigns among hyenas is an extremely rare phenomenon for predators.
Hyenas live in clans led by a female (matriarchy).
Males are not allowed to approach their children: fathers are not averse to eating their heirs.
http://karakg.net/hu/?per=tekebaaev&id=3...
ELEPHANT
Elephants have a lifespan of 60 to 70 years. Some features of elephants are very similar to humans, namely, they remember previous experiences and are able to use this knowledge. Another similarity is that their stages of development correspond to the stages of human development. Over the course of their lifespan, they go from a stage of naughty childhood, curious adolescence, to adulthood, when the elephant develops into a proud, intelligent and majestic animal. There is matriarchy in the elephant family. A large, strong female worries and protects her family. Adult elephants usually travel alone or in small groups.
http://www.zambezi.ru/index.php?id=70
Killer whales
A pack is a close-knit family unit in which the animal’s entire life passes from birth to death. Males live approximately 50 years, females almost twice as long, reaching 70-80 years. Matriarchy reigns in pods of killer whales. Of the large mammals, only elephants adhere to such a social structure. But unlike elephants, male killer whales remain close to their mother throughout their lives.
http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/publishing/vs/...
CHIMPANZEE BONOBO(there are many contradictions)
The bonobo community, the closest relatives of humans, is led by a female. The male who dares to disobey her is simply expelled from the herd. Interestingly, all or almost all of the aggressive spores in the bonobo herd are replaced... by elements mating behavior– sex games for them are a way to avoid conflict. For example, before starting to eat, two female bonobos necessarily entered into genital contact with each other. If there is a misunderstanding between two male or two female bonobos, they will rub their genitals or caress each other with their hands and mouth. Jealousy of one bonobo male towards another over the female ends in them with elements of mating behavior towards each other. Bonobos are generally very “sexual”: between all members of the community (with the exception of immediate relatives) and in any combinations, including homosexual ones, there is a high frequency of sexual contacts - however, usually very short-term and more reminiscent of game demonstrations.
http://zapiski-rep.sitecity.ru/ltext_111...
RAT
The rat community is organized in a very unusual way. Matriarchy reigns among them. The flock is headed by a female, who continues the family line. After she dies, the largest rat takes her place.
http://www.myslo.ru/gazeta/681/animals/3...
There are many more examples of matriarchy in the animal world - deer, chinchillas, etc.

A man is a destroyer and a creator at the same time, a hunter and a prey, a ruler and a slave of his essence. What does he deserve - love or hate? Who is he and why did he come to this world? Could nature do without men? Why are men needed?

In this book, the veil of many secrets of the male “I” is lifted. It turns out that we need the male gender. He is the engine of evolution and scientific and technological progress, history and culture. It is possible that without men we would have remained just monkeys who learned to walk upright. This book will become for you a source of not only interesting, but also useful information and will help you look at men a little differently.

Book:

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They say that on the Black Sea coast, in the valley of the Fermodon and Yeshil-Irmak rivers, lived a warlike tribe of Amazons, which terrified neighboring peoples. This tribe of fearless warriors consisted only of women, and, of course, they were also ruled by a woman. They did not keep men with them at all, they engaged in lesbian love, and in order to conceive children, they slept with men from other tribes once a year. Born boys were either returned to their fathers or killed; girls were raised as future warriors. The name of this tribe does not come from the Amazon River, but from the Greek word amazones, which translated means “breastless.” Legend says that the Amazons, even in infancy, burned the right breast of their daughters so that it would not interfere with archery. True, another legend claims that they cauterized their left breast, but it may very well be that both legends are just fictions, in any case, in all the ancient images of warrior maidens that have come down to us, they appear with both breasts, as expected. But that's not what we're talking about.

The Amazon State is the only one known to history a state with a matriarchal type of government. So unique that many scientists generally question the very fact of its existence, leaning toward the mythical origin of stories about the exploits of the Amazons. And the main argument in these disputes is this: well, women can’t run the country! Even if the country is small.

Only shadows remain of the Amazon women's state

In most animal species, the dominant position in packs and herds is occupied by males. Matriarchy, of course, occurs, but quite rarely. The most ardent followers of matriarchy are spotted hyenas. In these animals, females are much larger and more aggressive than males. In their packs, men are not tolerated at all; they do not even try to sort things out with the weaker sex: this is fraught with consequences. Ladies allow them to approach them only during the mating season.

Among elephants, the herd is led by the most experienced, usually the oldest, female. Males that have reached adulthood leave the herd and live either alone or in small bachelor groups.

Female matriarch leads family of elephants to watering hole

In killer whales, the pod is a close-knit family, also led by the eldest female. Males remain with the family for life. In ordinary rats, the largest female rules. After her death, the next largest female takes the place. But in most animals that adhere to family image life, the place of leader is occupied by the male. And again I want to ask: why?

If we are guided by evolutionary considerations, what produces the best fruits dominates the earth. It turns out that patriarchy gives us something that provides us best conditions for successful prosperity, development and reproduction. The difference between matriarchal and patriarchal societies comes down to the difference between behavioral characteristics two genders.

Men have better developed rational thinking, prudence, and the ability for objective analysis. Due to the low content of the caring hormones oxytocin and prolactin in the body, parental instincts are less developed in men. For women, emotions, feelings, communication, and the desire to establish as many friendly connections as possible come first. IN female body there is incomparably more oxytocin and prolactin, which is why the maternal instinct in them often prevails over common sense and logic. A lot of facts have been recorded when mothers did truly crazy things to save their children. And they saved us! There is a known case when a woman was able to stop a speeding full speed ahead truck to save his child who had run out onto the road. A man would hardly commit such an act, because he would immediately understand: it is impossible and there is no point in even trying. The woman didn't think about anything. She saw the danger and rushed to the rescue.

What does this ultimately give us? Male rule provides opportunity evolutionary development by natural selection. One day I was watching documentary about animal life in the Serengeti. One of the episodes was dedicated to a small drama that took place under the hot African sun. The zebra gave birth to a foal. The newborn was sick: due to an intrauterine infection, the joints of his legs were inflamed, and he could hardly move. The father, who is also the leader of the herd, at first drove away the predators, who immediately ran to the scene in the hope of getting some easy prey, but after a while he realized that the efforts to preserve the life of the foal were incomparably great compared to the role that he was able to play, if she reaches puberty. There was no point in protecting him. It is better to focus your efforts on the birth and raising of other, healthy foals. And the male stepped aside. His mother, driven by instinct, continued to protect him.

Her efforts to save her son seemed to be crowned with success. She managed not only to keep him alive on the first day, but also for the next two months. To her detriment, because she had to continuously ward off predators from the sick foal and could not eat well. To the detriment of the herd, because everyone else was forced to stay in place for a long time and wait while the lame woman and her mother hobbled to their destination. But the disease progressed, and, in the end, a fatal outcome came. While the mother tried unsuccessfully to raise the child, the herd waited patiently. But soon the zebras ate all the grass in this area and they needed to move on, otherwise the safety of several dozen animals was called into question. And the herd set off. The mother zebra rushed between the herd and her dying baby, but could not decide to leave him until the smell of decomposition convinced her of the futility of her efforts. Only after this did she decide to leave the dead foal and catch up with the herd.

The female sex tends to take care of everyone

A tiny tragedy, of which hundreds happen every day in the wild, clearly shows that the female desire to preserve her offspring at any cost threatens the survival of the species. All her children, both healthy and crippled, are equally dear to a mother. This is what nature dictates to them, endowing them with a high content of appropriate hormones. Moreover, with such behavior, if it prevails, the number of unhealthy representatives of the species will increase, because everyone will survive and, in general, the quality of the genetic material will decrease, which will certainly affect the fitness and survival of the species. Males, due to their characteristics hormonal levels are less caring and treat their offspring without sacred awe. But in this disregard lies the salvation of the species.

How then did species that prefer a matriarchal way of life manage to survive? Let's return again to the African valleys. Drought. A herd of elephants went to drink at the same source for several months. The water in it became less and less, and the day came when, having come to a watering hole, the elephants found nothing there except dried mud. The female matriarch led the herd to another source, but even here failure awaited the elephants. And then the eldest elephant led the family twenty kilometers, to where, according to all calculations, the water should have been. It was a very long and tiring journey. The little elephants would sometimes fall over from fatigue, and the mother elephants would stop and wait until they could move on. Finally, they covered this considerable distance.

However, when they approached the source, the elephants saw that there was little water in it and there might not be enough for everyone. The elephants began to push the little elephants away from the water in order to get a drink themselves. It would seem strange cruelty for such highly organized animals as elephants. But she is also justified common goal: If the elephants allowed the cubs to drink all the water, they would save the babies, but they themselves would die of thirst. If there were no mothers, there would be no elephants, who would have no one to protect and feed, the group would have died completely. But the female elephants applied the male line of behavior: they pushed aside those who had the least chance of survival in order to ensure the life of the reproductive part of the herd. These baby elephants will die, but the female elephants will be able to give birth to others. Thus, only those matriarchal animals that at least to some extent adopt the features of patriarchy manage to survive. To reassure the reader, I will say that in that particular source there was still enough water for everyone and the baby elephants remained alive.

The tendency of matriarchy towards a patriarchal type of behavior allows populations with this type of hierarchy to survive safely. This idea is indirectly confirmed by the following fact: in female hyenas the amount of testosterone in the body is extremely high, which leads to high aggressiveness of females. Moreover, this even affects the structure of the reproductive organs of females: their vulva in structure resembles a scrotum with testicles, and there is even a pseudopenis capable of erection - a greatly enlarged clitoris!

Female hyenas are unusually aggressive. The reason is very high testosterone levels

Men tend to care about the whole - about the family, about the team, about the state. For women – about each member of society individually. However, it should be recognized: increased personalized care has never brought benefit to the people or the country as a whole. This is probably why history knows such a small number of female rulers. The United States has not had a single female president. In Rus', out of several dozen rulers, only six women are known. As they say, they were outwardly masculine, from which it can be assumed that their blood had a high level of testosterone, which allowed them to seize power and rule the country.

All dictators were men. At the same time, they were bad husbands and fathers. You don’t have to look far for an example: our Joseph Stalin. This man, famous for his bad temper and disgusting attitude towards his wife, subjugated a huge state and kept all his closest subordinates in fear, without exception. Stalin raised the country from ruins, and did it twice - after civil war and after the Great Patriotic War. But he was a bad family man.

He insulted and humiliated his wife, and, according to some sources, did not hesitate to use his fist. In the end, driven to despair, Nadezhda Alliluyeva shot herself.

Joseph Stalin - a bad family man and an excellent dictator

If there have been effeminate rulers (with low testosterone levels) in the history of mankind, then, with rare exceptions, they all came to a bad end. Louis XVI and Nicholas II, Charles I and Mikhail Gorbachev - they were all wonderful husbands, but bad rulers. Typically, their rule brought the countries under their control to the brink of political and economic abyss.

Louis XVI of Bourbon. A wonderful family man and a useless monarch. Ended his life on the chopping block

It has been noticed that during periods of political or economic calm, even in patriarchal communities, matriarchy is tightened and a tendency towards its predominance is indicated. Men seem to retreat into a closed, purely male sphere of activity. That's right - there is no war, living conditions are quite bearable, you can take personal care of each member of society, which will ensure the development of individuals, talents, and extraordinary personalities. But if wars happen, natural disasters or some other global misfortune, matriarchy immediately gives way to patriarchy - this is not the time to worry about everyone individually, when danger threatens the entire nation, country, planet.

There is not a single state on Earth in which matriarchy or patriarchy would dominate. pure form. In both cases, such civilizations face inevitable destruction, in the first case - due to the lack of social consciousness and collectivism, in the second - due to weak individual development each of its members.

The beauty of the history of societies lies in the continuous struggle between patriarchy and matriarchy, which has been going on for several millennia with varying success. They, competing with each other, simultaneously pull each other up to the required level, thanks to which humanity successfully develops.

The rivalry between matriarchy and patriarchy - necessary condition For proper development society

Thus, we see that the presence of two sexes, the balance between their influence, ensures harmonious development society, survival and development of species.

Why is hermaphroditism characteristic only of primitive animals? Because they do not have such developed instincts of parenthood, feelings, emotions. They don’t care whether their fry died or survived. They do not protect each individual descendant - if he managed to hide, that means he had time. If you didn't have time, that's your problem. Hermaphrodites take over this world with the number of their descendants and survive due to this.

When it comes to animals, people still have a lot to learn from them. We forget that some animals are also capable of creating the same forms of behavior that we have, we simply do not notice them because they manifest themselves differently in animals.

We often forget that animals are capable of experiencing the same emotions as us, creating friendships and family bonds similar to ours. The result of this willful “forgetfulness” is reflected in the way we treat animals. We separate them from family and friends, keep them in captivity for our own amusement, or even keep them in unbearable conditions in poultry farms until the day they become one of our meals.

An important step towards ending this vicious cycle is to treat them with compassion. Animals are actually not so different from us as in their tails, fur or weight. So let's take a moment to look at the animals that form family bonds similar to ours.

Here are six amazing views animals with unusually strong family ties:

1. Elephants

Elephant family on the march

While male elephants live relatively solitary lives, female elephants live in herds with highly developed family ties. Matriarchy reigns in the elephant herd, where there can be several family generations, from 6 to 12 members, ranging from grandchildren to sisters and their offspring. It has long been known that elephants rush to the aid of their babies who find themselves in the strong waters of a river, or stuck in the mud, or strayed from the herd because they are mourning the death of a member of the herd.

Back in 2012, two herds of South African elephants made their way to the home of Lawrence Anthony, a conservationist wildlife who saved their lives. They stayed near his home for two days, apparently mourning his death, Beliefnet.com reported. They spent a total of 12 hours getting to his house.

2. Wolves

Wolf pack on vacation

They may even have stronger alpha male/alpha female bonds than we do. Wildlife advocates say some may even sacrifice their own lives to protect the rest of the pack. It was once believed that wolf packs consist of unrelated pack members who often vie with each other for dominance, until David Meck explored wild wolves and did not debunk this idea. He discovered that the pack consists of an alpha pair and their wolf cubs, in addition, the pack contains some adult offspring from previous litters.

3. Orcas

A baby and an adult killer whale frolic

Sara Heimlich provided the first evidence in the 1980s that killer whale societies are matrilineal (maternal lineage). According to the National Marine Fisheries Service's Southern Resident Killer Whale (orca) Conservation Plan report, members of these groups have extremely strong bonds and are rarely physically separated from each other for more than a few hours. Even the offspring live with their parents throughout their lives.

4. Dolphins

Dolphins on a walk

Dolphins have strong social bonds and they are those animals that show caring behavior not only towards their own species but also towards other species, and they also save people from shark attacks from drowning, and also help seals and whales. The first time dolphins were recorded trying to save another dying dolphin was in 2013, when five dolphins formed a kind of carpet with their bodies to keep the injured dolphin afloat and not drown, later ten other dolphins swam up and took turns changing, this was reported on the BBC.

5. Lions

Caring female and curious lion cub

Lions are the most social animals of all species. wild cats, they live in prides. Males lead a tougher life until they get older, and media reports have also reported that even old females with missing teeth wait for the entire pride to share food with them. Experts say it is common among lions to touch noses, female lionesses lick each other, and males rub each other's heads to strengthen social bonds. During attacks (hunting), they try to get their prey by acting together.

6. Chimpanzee

Interested look of the chimpanzee family

In families where a female is dominant, order most often reigns. However, it is worth noting that this is also a dictatorship. I have always been surprised by men who literally submitted to their wives, but this behavior in animals is not at all surprising...

In the wild, matriarchy is quite common: from insects such as bees to the largest land mammals- elephants. I am familiar with insects only from the experience of being bitten, and macro photography is not my thing at all, so I don’t know anything about them. And since I am a wildlife photographer, my observations are mainly related to large mammals, mainly African predators. I have been photographing wild cats and their distant relatives, hyenas, for many years. I want to tell you that the longer I observe the life of these felines, the more amazed and surprised I am.

1. Yes, of course, it is purely aesthetically more pleasant to look at pride of lions, but believe me, the structure of the family life of hyenas is much more interesting.

2. The dominant female hyena controls absolutely all processes in the clan. In addition to giving birth and raising children, she determines the target for the hunt and is the coordinator during the attack. She determines the food order, keeps order and can literally punish someone who breaks it, although this happens extremely rarely.

3. Keep it so stable social system hyenas are helped by a very developed and diverse language of communication. Hyenas communicate with each other not only by sounds, which are extremely unpleasant to the human ear and resemble a mixture of howls, roars and laughter, but also by smells. The smell of a hyena is very pungent and unique to each individual. Depending on the reproductive cycle, the smell changes and serves as an important regulator of intra-clan relations. The scent of a dominant female evokes humility not only in males, but also in other females who are at the lowest level in the hierarchy.

While photographing hyenas, I have repeatedly noticed that males often show their erect genitals to the female. Moreover, he often literally shakes his dignity in front of the female’s face.

4. I thought that this was his way of flirting, showing her his desire to mate. As you know, males become excited by the smell of a pregnant female, but once I noticed similar behavior of a male in the presence of a female who had just given birth. There could be no talk of any heat at this moment, therefore, the male should not have shown interest in her. This surprised me, and I began to study the issue.

As it turned out, with this behavior the male shows his humility and complete submission! At this moment the female begins to growl and grin. We must pay tribute to the courage of the male, because to shake his dignity in front of such strong jaws- this is no joke! For reference, the jaws of a hyena create a pressure of 70 kg/cm2.

5. In hyena clans, males have such a low position that even cubs are a step higher. There are many males in the flock, but some are expelled over time. The decision to expel is also made by the dominant female. Despite their harsh attitude towards males in general, female hyenas often show leniency towards their fathers.

6. Who decides which female is more important? Most often, the daughters of the dominant female fight for the “throne”. The struggle for power begins in childhood - young females often engage in mortal battles.

7. In this photo, the dominant female, her tail raised, is a demonstration of her high position in the pack.

8. And in general, they are not as disgusting as many people think. They are often funny and even cute:

12. In general, hyenas have a real, pronounced matriarchy. Well, what do you want from a lady who is not only larger and stronger than her companion, but also has her own pseudo-penis?! Yes, yes, that's right! The first scientific descriptions of hyenas noted that they are prone to homosexual intercourse. However, later scientists found out that in females the clitoris can greatly increase, reaching 15 centimeters, and at such moments the female can be mistaken for a male.

13. That's what they are, hyenas.

Construction of Gobekli Tepe. Reconstruction.

Matriarchy and patriarchy, two forms of social structure. Matriarchy is ancient. Today it is preserved among certain archaic tribes. Patriarchal society, as experts say, has replaced it, so that the phenomena of life of both are very often contrasted (opposed) to each other. In the literature, speaking about the features of matriarchy or patriarchy, they cite such signs as: the role of women and men in the family, determining the relationship of children, the range of their activities.
These descriptions are voluminous, but always leave a feeling of secondary importance of the given properties, their subordination to others - the main ones. There is a feeling of vagueness: it is difficult to imagine a picture of life in each case, what are the most important features of each, what is their main difference. At the same time, the change in these forms is seen as a transition from antiquity to modernity. I have tried to clarify this misunderstanding by characterizing the most important features inherent in societies of both forms, based on historical data and common sense.

Matriarchy and patriarchy are two forms of social structure that determine different relationships for each case between members of society, to the surrounding world, to forces otherworldly for humans.

Matriarchy is characterized by worship of the mother and the earth with the ability to give birth that unites them. This deified ability is given by nature. Which a person feels like a part of. From its elements it finds deities, the most important of which is embodied in the image of mother earth. Earth in Greek is “chthon”, respectively, the deities of this period are chthonic and are the most ancient for civilization.

A person connects his entire life with them, builds himself according to them. Nature gives life and takes it away. She is supportive and stern. These features are fused in her. Just like a mother: she loves, but can be strict. This is living in harmony with nature, i.e. accepting all manifestations without attempting to tame them. Nature is sacred, therefore it should not be transformed, but preserved. All creativity of society and individuals is aimed at adapting to natural conditions. The consciousness of the people of this era is, as it were, down to earth.

Respectively, religious ritual is an expression of love for nature and has the goal of getting closer to it, merging with it. It is obvious that in this case the natural properties of man must be fully involved, finding their extreme manifestation in orgies.

Giving nature a sacred character sets the corresponding patterns of behavior: the lifestyle sets the reproduction in breadth (numerically and in territory), thereby repeating the portly mother, as well as the reproduction of the existing social form, with gradual filling of space.

Rice. 1. Sculpture from the HöhleFels cave (35-40 years old)

Thus, according to the reconstruction, the settlement of Catalguyuk was ~ 6000 BC. a collection of simple houses of the same type, each of which can be built by 1 family.

Rice. 2. Settlement of Chatal Guyuk. Reconstruction.

In such a society, the co-organization of large groups is not required. Accordingly, there is no need for hierarchy. Everyone is equal, all children of the same mother.

The situation is different under patriarchy. Its rooting is traditionally associated with the “invasion” of Indo-European tribes into the territory of modern Europe and Asia, dating them somewhere around the 5 thousandth year BC. They brought with them new gods, who either supplanted the old ones or absorbed them into a subordinate position. How has society changed?

It seems to me that the main change occurred in the object of religious worship, which (which) became supra-mundane, i.e. lost connection with nature. In response, man received a creative impulse in relation to the world: to nature and society. The ability to rearrange them at will: to show the will to intervene and understand why.

The “invasion” itself, although it lasted for centuries, presupposes a certain determination of the masses, which is opposed to the spontaneity of adapting to natural conditions. The “settlement” in the heads of this sense of purpose, in my opinion, should have been accompanied by the fact that people, as it were, turned their gaze from the earth towards the sky.

Those. distinguishing feature Patriarchy self-will over nature and society. Accordingly, the natural traits of a person will not be nurtured here, and a certain sublime sense of belonging to the gods comes to the fore.

I see the personification of patriarchal will in this image.

Rice. 3. The city of Uruk at the end of 3 thousand BC. Reconstruction.

The city is very similar to Çatalhöyük above, except for the palace. This cannot be built by the forces of a matriarchal community. What is required here is the organization of a large mass of people, divided according to hierarchy, and willfully embodying the “father’s” idea.