Saw a documentary last night about the Mosuo people in Yunnan province. It's quite an interesting culture with a matrilineal tradition. The woman is the head of the household, and lineage is traced through the females. What is probably most fascinating about the Mosuo is their walk-in marriage, where women who have come of age get their own bedroom. Their partner, or any person they're interested in, may walk into their room at night, but by morning they will leave and return to their own home. When a lover returns home, he is fulfilling his responsibilities to his household. If a child is born, the man does not move in to live with the woman or vice versa, they continue to live in their own house. The Mosuo people live with extended families, and the man continues to share the responsibility of the children in his own family, whether they belong to his sisters, his aunts, etc.
More about the Mosuo: http://articles.latimes.com/1998/dec/26/news/mn-57733
No comments:
Post a Comment