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Is there an existing “matriarchal” society these days?

The Mosuo minority group in China, seemingly the last matriarchal society on earth, was exposed in an interesting documentary film clip “The Women’s Kingdom” delivered by a Shanghainese female journalist who studied in the U.S. previously. She had, as she explained, desired for the last decade of her life, to visit the Mosuo as they were a famous minority group in China, and now the world, for their “walking marriage”. The Mosuo is a matriarchal society where the women depend on no men but themselves. They have an interesting perspective of love and relationship.

You should take a look at the documentary at: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/07/introduction_to.html#

From the documentary, the young Mosuo ladies being interviewed seemed to show inner confidence in themselves. They did not seem afraid to express their opinion and projected honesty and wholesomeness. They looked calm, hardworking and strong. And their joy of singing and dancing was beautiful to behold, especially when one of the Mosuo ladies said when she was in the city of China and was not allowed to sing, she felt she would go mad, and she wanted to burst out singing at the top of her voice in the middle of the street.

It was also wonderful to hear that one of them, the Mosuo lady who left at one stage to go to the U.S. to study and then to return to be with her people, was very clear about the environment and the effect of tourism to her previously sheltered, beautiful and peaceful region.

When she mentioned that there was a time when the people from her district would drink water directly from their beautiful and prestine Lugu Lake because it was so clean, and the film showed empty green beer bottles being fished out of the lake, I thought of some countries I know, but in particular the Philippines, where once upon a time, the Pasig River that runs through Manila could be drunk from directly by the Filipinos. When you look at the Pasig River now, it’s never clear and turns, depending on the weather, from a dark earthy brown river to a murky dank green. It is filthy and toxic with waste discharges from factories built alongside the river banks. No matter how hard the campaign to “Clean the Pasig River” works, nothing much changes.

In the Mosuo region, it seems the water of the Lugu Lake has been polluted especially with the rubbish brought in by visiting tourists who have absolutely no regard for the safeguarding of special natural environment. The Mosuo people have to drink water from the mountain streams further up and inwards their region as they cannot drink any more from the Lugu Lake.

I think every transportation used to carry human traffic especially to tourist spots should be obliged to promote environmental protection and conservation material to educate the public and this should be continuous.

But back to the Mosuo ladies as we digressed a bit … the main Mosuo lady interviewed said that men come with the tourists thinking they can pay the Mosuo women for a “walking marriage” – as this practice is a one night affair between a Mosuo lady and a man she desires or “loves”. It’s mutual as well since the right to spend the night with a Mosuo lady has to be when she “allows” a man in her “Flower Chamber” for the night until the man is expected to leave the next morning before the inhabitants of her home wakes up.

It’s audacious of the men to think they can pay these Mosuo women for a one night stand, just like a city prostitute and I wholeheartedly cheered the Mosuo lady who slapped that man twice for suggesting he pay for her to sleep with him.

One woman interviewed who wasn’t of the Mosuo region had come as a tourist to visit Mosuo in search of Mosuo men. She thought they were charming and straightforward and gave me the impression that honesty seemed to be very much lacking in men these days for her to appreciate the directness of the Mosuo men.

Directness, honesty, and acceptance of one’s sensuality, sexuality and womanhood seem to be the common profile of the Mosuo women, and one Mosuo “prodigal daughter” Yang Erche Namu, or Namu, as she is mainly called seems to embody in a particular way, the confidence and attractiveness of the Mosuo women.

I’m just not sure if she’s exploiting the Mosuo women in her stories, and she has several autobiographies to date, but the one published recently with co-author and anthropologist Christine Matthieu, “Leaving Mother Lake” seems the more “truthful”.

Do I admire the Mosuo women? I do indeed. I think every woman should learn to be independent, sure of themselves and not think that men are the saviors and masters of the universe. I’m not a feminist, I just believe that women should be strong and capable. Marriage to me is sacred, but unless you’re sure of a man, it’s better to be like the Mosuo women and carry no emotional and psychological baggages.

The above photograph is one I took from a cliff opposite and the similar picture below is from a postcard from Étretat.

The white alabaster cliffs of Étretat was in 1885 depicted and immortalized by French Impressionist artist, Claude Monet in his painting “Roch Arch West of Etreta (The Manneport)” (1883)(depicted here), “Étretat. The Beach and the Falaise d’Amont” (1885), “Boats on the Beach at Étretat” (1885), “The Departure of the Boats, Étretat”, “The Manneporte near Étretat” (1886), “Grosse mer à Étretat” (approx. 1868 to 1869), and by Jean-Désiré-Gustave Courbet with his “La falaise d’Étretat après lorage” (1869).

Monet had learnt the importance of “light changing” so essential in his later cathedral paintings, in Étretat according to art historians, but Monet isn’t the only creative soul who came to appreciate Étretat. Aside from him and Courbet, Delacroix, Corot, and Boudin painted in Étretat too, whereas Guy de Maupassent and Jacques Offenbach had homes there.

The “Falaise d’Amont”, the unusual formation of the cliff that juts out to the ocean was described by Maupassant as an elephant dipping its trunk into the ocean.

Étretat is a quaint coastal town in the Normandy region of France, about a little over two hours drive from Paris, and I had the opportunity of visiting it for a day with friends, and to explore the beach front, climb the cliffs, and learn about Arsène Lupin.

Arsène Lupin was a roguish and glamourous French character created by the author Maurice Leblanc (1864-1941), and in fact, existed in the period of Sherlock Holmes, as his counterpart, the ultimate gentleman thief and detective.

Lupin was depicted as a Robin Hood, a force for good, a hero and a villain at the same time, who would rob only the wealthy and most corrupt people, warning them before the robbery took place thus inducing excitement and curiosity in the method he would employ to succeed in his objective. He was a Frenchman who possessed a fine eye for art, literature, deciphering secrets, winning young ladies’ hearts … he was a master of disguises, and robbery.

There are fans of Lupin who feel he is a far better character than Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marples, etc., and interestingly enough, there’s books written by a follower of Leblanc, George Decrières, where Arsène Lupin was pitted against Sherlock Holmes in a match of wits, although Sherlock Holmes was renamed Herlock Sholmes for copyright reason.

In 1999, Maurice Leblanc’s home in Étretat, was converted into a cultural spot “Le Clos Arsène Lupin, Maison Maurice Leblanc”. It is a three-storey mansion, acquired by Leblanc in 1918, and he immediately called it “Le Clos Arsène Lupin”. Its a quaint place, and the rooms are fascinating to explore as there are artifacts around which relate to the novels, and several “disguises” Arsène Lupin used.

Étretat itself is lovely to explore. I can’t get over their thatched houses! They’re right off a fairy tale or nursery rhyme book for me. Most of the buildings around are different with their plaster and beam structure, and not at all similar to the Parisien scenario. This small “town” (population 1,615) makes you realise that every “department” of France is worth visiting as they all have something interesting to offer an appreciative visitor.

==> Le Clos Arsène Lupin @www.arsene-lupin.com