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For Teachers - religion & culture : examining patriarchal and matriarchal society and culture

LESSON INTRODUCTION:

This lesson provides students with an opportunity to explore different perspectives regarding Patriarchal and Matriarchal cultures. Students will study and understand the basic definitions for the terms patriarchy and matriarchy and will then create their own definitions for these terms. Students will examine different cultures, focusing particularly on Rwanda following the genocide, after which women have taken on a much larger role in running the country because Rwanda lost a large number of men due in the conflict. Students will develop their own theories about what the United States would be like if, following World War II, women had taken a larger role in the continued growth of the country.

Grade Level: 9-12

Time Allotment: Two to four 45-minute class periods

Subject Matter: Freedom of Expression


Learning Objectives:

Students Will

Use primary sources such as news reports and video to gather information about current and recent world history.

Analyze the information gathered from these primary resources to draw conclusions about matriarchy and patriarchy.

Be encouraged to form and create their own individual ideas and concepts about matriarchal societies and patriarchal societies.

Gain a broader view and understanding of how gender division can change a culture following conflict.


Academic Standards:

National Standards for History
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/nchs/standards/thinking5-12-5.html
Standards 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E, 5F

    A. Identify issues and problems in the past and analyze the interests, values, perspectives, and points of view of those involved in the situation.

    B. Marshal evidence of antecedent circumstances and current factors contributing to contemporary problems and alternative courses of action.

    C. Identify relevant historical antecedents and differentiate from those that are inappropriate and irrelevant to contemporary issues.

    D. Evaluate alternative courses of action, keeping in mind the information available at the time, in terms of ethical considerations, the interests of those affected by the decision, and the long and short-term consequences of each.

    E. Formulate a position or course of action on an issue by identifying the nature of the problem, analyzing the underlying factors contributing to the problem, and choosing a plausible solution from a choice of carefully evaluated options.

    F. Evaluate the implementation of a decision by analyzing the interests it served; estimating the position, power, and priority of each player involved; assessing the ethical dimensions of the decision; and evaluating its costs and benefits from a variety of perspectives.
National Standards for Social Studies
http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/

    IX. Global Connections: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of global connections and interdependence.

    X. Civic Ideals and Practices: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic.


PREPARATION:

Media Components

Video:
  • WIDE ANGLE
    Thirteen/WNET New York's weekly series of one-hour international documentaries, hosted by Mishal Husain.
    "Ladies First" -- (Thursday, July 22, 2004)
    Ten years after the bloody genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 people in just 100 days, Rwanda's women are leading their country's healing process and taking their society forward into the future.
Web Sites:

Materials

Per Student:
  • Copy of the Student Worksheet #1

  • Pen or Pencil

  • Computer or Internet Access (classroom, computer lab or library)

  • Web site hyperlink document (listing of appropriate sites for students to use for research)

Per Class:
  • Chalkboard, whiteboard or poster paper

  • Appropriate writing utensil for your writing surface

  • Copies of appropriate videos

  • VCR/TV

  • Scotch Tape (necessary if you are using poster paper so that you can display students' work)
PROCEDURES:

Prep for Teachers

Prior to teaching, bookmark all of the Web sites used in the lesson and create a Microsoft Word document with all of the Web sites as hyperlinks for the students to access. Make sure both your computer and the computers the students will be using have the necessary media players to play any video clips. These are Shockwave, Real Video, and Quicktime. Cue any videotapes to the segment(s) you plan on using to support your lesson.

When using media, provide students with a focus for media interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.


Introductory Activity

  • What is patriarchy and how does it play a role in a country and its people's culture and growth?

  • What is matriarchy and how does it play a role in a country and its people's culture and growth?
Step 1:
Explain to your students that you will be studying patriarchy and matriarchy. Ask your students to brainstorm a definition for both of the terms, as well as to create a short list of what parts of a culture would be affected based on whether it is or was a patriarchal society or a matriarchal society.

Have them record their ideas individually or in small groups or teams. Students may use the Student Research Sheet to take notes. Then have the students share their definitions and perceptions of cultural effects during an open classroom discussion. Write the students' responses on your blackboard, whiteboard, or poster paper. Make sure that your discussion addresses some of these questions:

  • What is patriarchy?

  • What is matriarchy?

  • Can a society exhibit characteristics of both?

  • What parts of a culture would or could be influenced by whether it is a strongly patriarchal society or a strongly matriarchal society? Explain.

  • What factors might play a role in determining whether a society develops as a patriarchy or as a matriarchy? Explain. (Economy, government, conflict, cultural roots and norms such as marriage and property are potential factors.)

  • What factors might play a role in changing a culture from a strongly patriarchal society to a matriarchal society and vice versa? Explain. (Money, government, and conflict are potential factors.)
Using the information gathered above, develop a class definition for patriarchy and matriarchy. Also come to a consensus on what in a society would be affected by whether that society was a patriarchal or a matriarchal. Discuss which parts of a culture would or could be changed or influenced by conflict based on whether the society was patriarchal or matriarchal.

Suggested Web sites:

Learning Activities

Do general research to define the terms matriarchy and patriarchy and begin to think about the patriarchal culture of the United States in comparison to a Matriarchal society such as the Minangkabau people of Indonesia.

Patriarchy Web resources:
Matriarchy Web resources: Step 1:
Provide students with a focus for media interaction, asking them to read and outline the general facts and definitions available. Students may take notes on the Student Worksheet #1. Through this activity students will begin to understand the basic definition of a matriarchy and a patriarchy. They will begin to see and understand the basic differences between a matriarchy and patriarchy. Students may need assistance understanding some of the language used and determining the main ideas, so it may be helpful to complete one or two examples together.

Step 2:
As a class, have the students compare the research they have done on defining patriarchy and matriarchy with the definition they created as a class. Has their definition changed? Were there areas of culture that they did not know were determined by gender and power? What other cultural or societal traits can determine whether a group of people are matriarchal or patriarchal?

Step 3:
Individually or in small groups have the students research the Minangkabau culture and other matriarchal societies. Some Web resources are provided above, but this is also an opportunity for you to allow your students to use the Internet to conduct their own research. Have your students keep notes on their Student Research Sheet. Provide your students with a focus for media interaction, such as, "What are some of the differences between the Minangkabau matriarchal culture and the patriarchal culture of the United States?"


Culminating Activity

Step 1:
Now that students have a strong understanding of the main characteristics of matriarchal societies and patriarchal societies, and of how cultural and societal traits are determined by gender structure, have the students begin to look at how conflict can affect cultural structure. Students may continue to use their Student Research Sheet to take notes.

An example of a country in which cultural and societal traits are determined by gender structures is in Rwanda, where following the 1994 genocide, women took on a much more active role in their country, shifting the country from a primarily patriarchal society to a primarily matriarchal society.

For information and basic facts about Rwanda please use the following Web site and film:

WIDE ANGLE - "Ladies First" -- (Thursday, July 22, 2004)
Ten years after the bloody genocide that killed an estimated 800,000 people in just 100 days, Rwanda's women are leading their country's healing process and taking their society forward into a different future.

Step 2:
Now that students have been able to research how conflict can create cultural and societal change, have them research women's roles in the United States during World War II. During World War II, Rosie the Riveter demonstrated how the conflict changed the role of women in the United States. Below are a variety of Web resources that students can use to explore the gender shift in the United States during World War II.

Suggested Web sites about Rosie the Riveter and women in the United States during World War II:
Step 3:
Now that your students have begun to form their own ideas regarding patriarchy and matriarchy, have them view the host interview of Ambassador Swanee Hunt found on the WIDE ANGLE "Ladies First" Web site.

After the students have viewed the interview, ask them to compare Ambassador Hunt's opinions with their own regarding Rwanda, conflict, and patriarchy and matriarchy.

  • Did the Ambassador's opinions change any of the student's ideas regarding patriarchy and matriarchy? How or why?

  • Did the Ambassador's conversation with Mishal Husain raise issues for the students that they had not thought of before they listened to the interview?
Step 4:
Students have now had an opportunity to examine a few different cultures -- both matriarchal and patriarchal -- as well as to think about how conflict can influence and change gender roles in a society. As the final culminating activity, have students write an essay about what they think the United States would be like following World War II if women had continued to take a larger role in leadership and economic production, and if the United States culture and society moved from patriarchal to matriarchal, as Rwanda did following the Rwandan genocide.


Cross Curricular Connection

Social Studies/Current Events:
Design a Web site to house the students' research on matriarchal and patriarchal societies.

Journalism:
Create articles on matriarchal and patriarchal cultures for the student newspaper.

Art/Culture:
Create a photo exhibition using images of gender roles and cultural change.


 
 
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