For the most part, I really have little idea what you are talking about. Words like equality have a specific meaning, one that isn't really up for discussion. But why are you putting words in my mouth and telling me what I am motivated to do, particularly when it makes so little sense? Are you saying that egalitarianism takes something away from you and is unfair to you in some way?
I have made no real assertion about what is desirable - simply what is historically and sociologically accurate. You asserted that patriarchy is across cultures a default evolutionary structure and I undertook to show you how that was not in the slightest bit remotely factually true. Even if we were to factor out the other dominance hierarchy aspects of patriarchy and just look at the male/female power dynamics, male control and domination of women is an extremely recent phenomenon, and one that is far from universal even today.
There is a rich history of matrilineal, matrifocal cultures, where women, and particularly mothers, are revered and honored. These societies are not dominance hierarchies though - not reverse patriarchies. Each one displays a noted sense of balance and mutual respect.
The Minangkabau of Indonesia are the largest modern matrilineal culture in the world today, with a population of about 4 million. They practice Islam but also have a long-held matrilineal tradition, or matriarchaat (from the Dutch).
Minangkabau matriarchaat is an established social system that appears to be drawn largely from the customary practice (adat) that involves tracing inheritance through the matrilineal line and giving prominent roles to women in public ceremonies.
Minang women uphold these pre-Islamic adat customs, which not only trace ancestry through the female line but also involve a complex social system in which women and men share power and control based on the principle of interdependence and mutual responsibility.
When couples marry, the groom moves to the bride’s house. Nearly all household decisions are made only after being deliberated by both husband and wife.
The Akan people of Ghana have a social organization that is fundamentally built around the matriclan, which determines lineage, inheritance, and position in the group. “All matriclan founders are female, but men traditionally hold leadership positions within the society. These inherited roles, however, are passed down matrilineally — meaning through a man’s mothers and sisters (and their children).
”Many indigenous cultures have this sort of power balance as an intrinsic aspect of their societies. Men may hold political power, but only with the support and consent of women. Land is nearly always held and passed down through the female line. Clan mothers or other female elders may wield as much power as a chief, albeit a slightly different kind of power.
The Iroquois clan mother is responsible for the welfare of the clan. She names all the people of the clan and holds a position in nominating the next Chief, where then the members of the clan have the final say whether the nominee is suitable for the position. They are considered the life givers. The clan mother’s position is hereditary; her title rests within the clan and is usually passed on to her female relatives, looking first at her eldest sisters, other sisters, then her eldest daughter and other daughters.
For the Mosuo of China, it’s typical for women to handle business decisions and men to handle politics. Children are raised in the mother’s household and take her name. There’s functionally no such thing as marriage or even fatherhood, although men living in their mother’s houses help to raise the children of their sisters and cousins and are much more involved in their day-to-day care than is typical in the West.“Mosuo men are feminists by any standards,” says (author Choo) Waihong. “Boys think nothing of looking after their baby sisters, or taking their toddler brothers by the hand everywhere. I was once made to wait before talking business with an elderly Mosuo man until he had bathed his family’s twin baby girls and changed their nappies.”
The fact that you support a social structure where immutable traits are used to determine who has power or is considered socially dominant is pretty interesting coming from a gay man. Aside from the fact that no-one is forcing anyone to do anything, pointing out the harmful effects of social mores or customs is a part of living in a vibrant society. That's a part of how what is equitable gets sorted out. Aside from the obvious ways that patriarchy harms and discriminates against women, it's also incredibly destructive to most men as well. Clinging on to this social structure because you like getting an unearned place in the hierarchy simply for being born with certain traits is pretty fragile, but it's also destructive to the society as a whole, and most likely to you as an individual.
