Male psychology in a matriarchy

I am developing a (magical) first-millenium CE alternate history based on an extension of historically matriarchal societies, and am trying to decide how this would affect the stereotypical male personality. To obtain the desired cultural shift, I have applied a few magic-based tech changes, specifically:

• The drug of forgetfulness, nepenthe, is available in the wild, and it disproportionately affects the male brain. A brain lacking information will grab onto whatever it is given, so a person influenced by nepenthe will likely believe whatever he is told. This is a short-term effect.

• Use of nepenthe for personal gain is culturally discouraged (and illegal in most places), but it still happens on occasion -- much as date-rape drugs are still used in our society today.

• Culturally, this led over time to men begin perceived as "fragile", "easily manipulated" and "not to be trusted with important decisions". Education may be limited to women as a result (Compare: US attitudes towards women before the 19th Amendment and in higher education before Title IX).

• Nepenthe has been weaponized, for defense against brigands or enemy armies. This changes the way the military is structured. It also provides opportunity for unscrupulous people to manipulate or even kidnap young men. Native nepenthe must be eaten to have its effect; weaponized nepenthe is a gas.

• In response to this risk, golems were developed to handle some tasks for rich women who don't want to put their sons at risk. Among the poor, however, manpower is still measured in man-power (e.g., no significant biological differences in musculature for people).

• A man grows up in his mother's house and is expected to help raise his sisters' sons. As occurred in certain matriarchal cultures of our past, a woman may invite a man she likes to share her bed, but marriage per se is not a thing -- his sister expects him to return to her house afterwards. Since women control the property and wealth, a man is essentially "orphaned" if he has no female relatives.

• The upper-class philosophy of "protect your sons" has grown into a broader idea that women are responsible to protect men from harm -- effectively, a reverse-chivalry attitude. This idea is particularly strong within families, but some women may hold it more broadly.

• There is some other magic present in the world, primarily related to augury, agriculture, and medicine. It is expensive and may require blood or other complex chemistry to accomplish. As a result, while famine, war, plague, and pestilence may still be as common as they were in our history, it is the matriarchy (government) that is expected to keep those things at bay.

In this context, I am trying to understand how this inverted power structure would affect human behavior. Specifically:

1. In our world, women are often perceived as talking more than men -- both in a positive (social) manner and in a negative (gossipy) one. In this revised world, would men in this culture be increasingly quiet compared to women ("your voice is unnecessary"), or would they become more social and talkative as their ability to influence society in other ways decreased?

2. In this alternate society, women hold both the financial and sexual controls. Put in that position, what (apart from words) would a man do to attract a woman's care and attention? Would the stereotypical "male ego" be completely destroyed by this level of financial dependency?

Notes:

• In this world, magic is intended as technology. It has been around long enough to affect culture, but not evolution. You can safely assume that biological sex differences are still present, though they may have a differing impact on society for the reasons described above.
• Magic is not cheap in this world, and is therefore limited to government or the wealthy. At the same time, culture is often established by the rich, so opinions would not necessarily match reality.
• I've done a lot of reading about real-world matriarchal societies, but this is not intended to be a direct analogue to any of them. For this question, I'm trying to understand the psychology of power -- how much is nature, and how much is nurture.
• As with the prior item, the magic/chemistry that leads to the manipulation of men is not intended to say anything about the real world. It is intended create a situation where a son or brother left alone might be drugged and kidnapped by unscrupulous persons. This would understandably make the women who care about them want to protect them (think: maternal instinct). It would also lead to unfortunate consequences when people decided their sons couldn't take care of themselves.

posted about 7 years ago

papidave‭

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