Gylany
= Riane Eisler's concept for the partnership system, distinct from both matriarhy and patriarchy conceived as dominator systems
Contextual Quote
1.
Eisler does not use the term "patriarchy." Nor does she use "matriarchy" to describe a more gender-balanced society, noting rule by fathers (patriarchy) and rule by mothers (matriarchy) can be two sides of a dominator coin. She proposed the real alternative is a partnership system or Gylany."
2.
"Though the historical dominators have tended to be male (and more recently, on the global stage, white), Eisler holds that her theory of dominator/partnership cultures is not ideology-, gender-, or race-specific. In essence, any human has the propensity to dominate other humans under certain conditions. For Terence McKenna, an American philosopher who praised Eisler’s work, this was an important point: “I don’t see it as a male disease. I think everybody in this room has a far stronger ego than they need. The great thing that Riane Eisler, in her book The Chalice and the Blade, did for this discussion was to de-genderize the terminology. Instead of talking about patriarchy and all this, what we should be talking about is dominator versus partnership society.”
- Jordan Bates, citing Riane Eisler and Terence McKenna [1]=Discussion=
Discussion
From the Wikipedia:
"In this book, Eisler traces tensions between these two models, starting in prehistory. It draws from many sources, including the study of myth and linguistics as well as archeological findings by the Indo-Europeanists J. P. Mallory and Marija Gimbutas and archeologists such as James Mellaart, Alexander Marshack, Andre Leroi-Gourhan,[ and Nikolas Platon.
Based on these findings, Eisler presents evidence how for the longest span of prehistory, cultures in the more fertile regions of the globe oriented primarily to the partnership model, which Eisler also calls a "gylany", a neologism for a society in which relationships between the sexes are an egalitarian partnership. This gender partnership was a core component of a more egalitarian, peaceful, and matrifocal culture with a focus on life-giving, centering on nurture. These societies once were widespread in Europe around the Mediterranean, and lasted well into the early Bronze Age in the Minoan civilization of Crete.
Later, culture skewed towards Patriarchy during a chaotic time of upheaval related to climate change and incursions of warlike, nomadic tribes. These peoples brought with them a domination system and imposed rigid rankings of domination, including the rigid domination by men of women and the equation of "real masculinity" with power and violence. This led to radical cultural transformation.
Eisler's book is not the only work describing this massive cultural shift. Other scholars have paid special attention to a radical change in gender relations. Historian Gerda Lerner details it in her Oxford University book The Creation of Patriarchy.
However, Eisler does not use the term "patriarchy." Nor does she use "matriarchy" to describe a more gender-balanced society, noting rule by fathers (patriarchy) and rule by mothers (matriarchy) can be two sides of a dominator coin. She proposed the real alternative is a partnership system or gylany."