1487 Patrilineal vs. Matrilineal Societies

Patrilineal societies are those that connect generations through the father. Common in history, patrilineal succession of family names, property, titles, and other valuables were traditionally passed on through a male line. Daughters received their inheritance in the form of a dowry where a significant portion of her father’s wealth was transferred to her husband at marriage. However, a few cultures throughout history were matrilineal, which connected generations through the mother, including Native Americans, Spanish and French Basque. Jewish Oral Tradition is matrilineal: a child of a Jewish mother is always Jewish, regardless of the faith of the father. In patrilieal societies, the new wife often becomes a servant in her husband’s family, but in matrilineal societies, new grooms initially work as virtual slaves for the bride’s family, only moving away after starting their own. The logical conundrum of why patrilineal societies are more common even though female parentage guarantees genealogical purity, while the father can be questionable, is because the strict monogamy to ensure paternity has lead to social stability. Unfortunately, female promiscuity tends to erode society, and modern western culture has adopted more matrilineal-like structures; for example new property rights and inheritance laws, and it has become more common for women to keep their birth names after marriage. Now, fewer and fewer family units are forming. Looking at projections into the future, it seems likely that only patrilineal societies can endure.