Western Feminism Is in a Death Spiral and the World’s Longest-Lasting Matriarchal Society Shows us Why
Western feminism has spent decades trying to embed equality within capitalist frameworks, pushing for reform after reform, yet continually bumping against the hard, unyielding edges of structural inequality. Meanwhile, quietly thriving for centuries, the Mosuo often mislabeled as purely matriarchal offer a compelling counter-narrative. Nestled near Lugu Lake in China’s remote southwest, their matrilineal society doesn’t merely theorize about egalitarianism; they live it, daily, without fanfare or hashtags.
Over decades, Western feminists have attempted various strategies such equal pay legislation, affirmative action, paid family leave, but the deeper capitalist logic often subverts or dilutes these reforms. Policy Band-Aids rarely touch the roots of inequality. In contrast, the Mosuo have woven equity into the very fibers of their cultural and economic life, serving as an unwavering example of what “thriving” can look like in a community-centered world.
I. The Mosuo: A Model of Matrilineal Stability
Before turning to the ongoing crisis of Western egalitarianism, it helps to see how the Mosuo’s long-standing society manages to sidestep the very problems undermining Western feminist ambitions.
“The Mosuo’s resilience stems from adaptive cultural practices rooted in matrilineality. A system where lineage and inheritance follow maternal lines, and matrifocality, where kinship networks center on maternal figures.”
Key characteristics of the Mosuo society
II. The Mosuo in Action
To illustrate these features more concretely, consider how the Mosuo approach key dimensions of daily life; dimensions that Western feminism struggles to reconcile with capitalist imperatives.
A. Kinship Matters More than Careers
“In Mosuo culture, maternal uncles step into roles traditionally occupied by fathers elsewhere, challenging the supposed universality of the nuclear family. Western society, addicted to individualism, glorifies the nuclear family while simultaneously watching its collapse and single-parent households surge, economic precarity deepens, and anxiety spikes.”
The Mosuo sidestep this crisis entirely. Their multigenerational matrilocal households, rooted in kinship rather than economic necessity, provide collective childcare, shared resources, and emotional stability, exactly what Western individualism systematically dismantles.
This emphasis on the extended family ensures that childcare isn’t an overwhelming burden foisted on one or two adults, a practice that often leaves Western parents exhausted and socially isolated. The communal approach also nurtures strong relationships among children, uncles, aunts, and grandparents, enriching the social tapestry.
B. Communal Ownership vs. Competitive Accumulation
“The Mosuo do not see resources as trophies to hoard but as communal assets to steward. Land and agriculture are managed collectively, preventing the vast economic disparities Western capitalism inevitably produces.”
Unlike Western economies perpetually driven by the ethos of endless accumulation, until it’s catastrophically not; the Mosuo practice sustainable subsistence agriculture. Reciprocity, not profit, guides their economic interactions, preserving not only equity but community cohesion.
Such harmony is not magical or accidental; it is the result of shared cultural agreements. While Western systems pit neighbor against neighbor in endless competition, Mosuo society mitigates these tensions by emphasizing mutual support and discouraging exploitative behavior.
C. Gender Complementarity: Beyond Equality as an Abstract Goal
“Mosuo society defies simple categorization as matriarchal or patriarchal, embracing instead genuine complementarity and role flexibility.”
Women predominantly handle economic and domestic decision-making, while men engage primarily in governance and spiritual ceremonies. This division is not hierarchical but cooperative; a balance conspicuously absent in Western capitalism, where feminism's success too often means women adopting traditionally male standards of “success” rather than redefining what success might mean altogether.
By refusing to force women and men into binary roles of dominance or submission, the Mosuo embody a social experiment where both genders exercise vital, respected functions. This stands in stark contrast to workplaces that laud a singular, competitive form of excellence.
D. The Cultural Insulation Advantage
“Critically, the Mosuo’s geographical isolation and cautious approach to external cultural influences have protected their way of life. Western feminism, conversely, battles daily against deeply entrenched patriarchal capitalism, which relentlessly commodifies even progressive ideals.”
By insulating their culture, the Mosuo sidestep capitalism’s appropriative tendencies: in their system, there’s no market niche for co-opting communal bonds.
In the West, where almost anything can be commercialized, even advocacy for women’s rights can become a trend or corporate marketing strategy, diluting its revolutionary potential. For the Mosuo, their isolation has functioned like a cultural firewall, preserving authenticity.
III. Western Egalitarian Struggles: Structural Contradictions
Here’s where things get thorny: Western attempts to institutionalize egalitarianism via policies promoting gender equity, racial justice, and wealth redistribution regularly collide with capitalism’s imperative for profit.
From minimum wage debates to universal childcare proposals, almost every egalitarian policy finds itself embroiled in critiques about “market inefficiency” or “budget constraints.” Meanwhile, the social costs: stress, alienation, and profound inequalities remain unaccounted for.
A. Capitalism and Inequality
“Competitive Accumulation: Capitalist systems prioritize profit and individual success, conflicting with egalitarian goals of equitable resource distribution (see Marxian critiques of structural inequality). Neoliberal Policies: Post-1980s deregulation and austerity have exacerbated wealth gaps, undermining social safety nets.”
Despite rhetorical commitments to “pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps,” countless families face structural barriers that no amount of personal initiative can overcome. The Mosuo answer is to eliminate the barriers altogether by centering mutual support.
B. Kinship and Social Fragmentation
“Nuclear Family Decline: Rising single-parent households and attenuated kinship networks correlate with economic precarity, linked in psychosocial research to increased anxiety and alienation. Individualization: Western emphasis on autonomy weakens communal ties, contrasting with Mosuo collectivism (see Durkheim’s anomie).”
By making each household nuclear and each person hyper-responsible for their own survival, Western societies have inadvertently eroded the sense of security once provided by extended families. In the Mosuo world, one is never alone; kinship forms a living safety net.
C. Gender Role Evolution
“Feminist Advocacy: Movements have challenged patriarchal norms, yet gender equity policies often clash with capitalist labor markets (e.g., unpaid care work devaluation). Role Strain: Conflicting expectations between workplace demands and caregiving responsibilities contribute to burnout, particularly for women.”
When success is measured primarily by career milestones, women are forced to juggle an impossible array of tasks: succeed in the office, hold the family together, and remain personally fulfilled. Meanwhile, the Mosuo model suggests that we might reinvent what success looks like altogether.
D. Identity and Community
“Political Polarization: Social justice movements, while addressing systemic inequities, struggle to build cohesion in individualistic societies, fostering identity-based fragmentation.”
In an atmosphere of fractious debates and ideological silos, even movements for equality can devolve into endless sectarian conflicts, losing momentum to genuine progress.
IV. The Incompatibility of Individuality, Capitalism, and Egalitarianism
These contradictions boil down to a larger truth:
“Fundamentally, individuality, capitalism, and egalitarianism are structurally incompatible. Individuality under capitalism valorizes competition, personal achievement, and material accumulation… while egalitarianism demands collective responsibility, equitable distribution of resources, and cooperative social structures.”
As capitalist systems celebrate personal success, egalitarian ideals dissolve, leaving Western societies trapped between professed values of equality and the reality of entrenched disparities.
We see it in how quickly progressive legislation gets undercut by corporate lobbying, or how philanthropy turns into tax-deductible PR. The goal of communal uplift never stands a chance against systemic incentives that reward self-maximization.
V. Western Contradictions: Feminism vs. Capitalism
“Capitalism inherently contradicts the egalitarian values feminism espouses. Policies promoting gender equity or racial justice falter when confronted by neoliberal economics such as deregulation, austerity, and privatization that relentlessly widen wealth gaps.”
Feminist economist Nancy Folbre points out how capitalism systematically undervalues caregiving labor, overwhelmingly performed by women, reinforcing gender inequality rather than dismantling it.
From cleaning homes to nurturing children, the underpaid or unpaid labor typically done by women keeps capitalist markets afloat, yet rarely reaps the economic respect it deserves. The Mosuo, by contrast, validate caregiving through social structures that spread responsibilities across family networks.
Western feminist movements have made undeniable strides, yet remain entangled in a system that commodifies their very demands. This entanglement manifests starkly in skyrocketing rates of burnout, anxiety, and role conflict among women who bear the dual weight of workplace demands and familial responsibilities.
Every attempt to “lean in” without systemic support can worsen the pressures women face, turning empowerment into yet another demand on their limited time. Meanwhile, comprehensive solutions like universal childcare remain perpetually stalled by market-driven arguments.
VI. The Psychological Cost of Inequality
Inequality doesn’t just impoverish; it isolates:
“Western individualism, amplified by capitalism’s constant drive for comparative advantage, heightens feelings of relative deprivation and social alienation. Social psychologists have long understood that relentless comparison fosters dissatisfaction and mental health crises.”
The Mosuo, by comparison, evade these traps by grounding their self-worth in community and collective well-being rather than individualistic metrics of success.
This communal buffer not only reduces stress but also provides a reliable emotional net when personal or economic setbacks occur. For Westerners accustomed to endless competition, this concept might be revolutionary: your neighbor’s success doesn’t come at your expense, and community members celebrate each other’s gains as a shared achievement.
VII. Core Tension: Egalitarian Values vs. Capitalist Structures
Ultimately, the tension is that Western egalitarianism contends with:
Meanwhile, the Mosuo’s success arises from cultural and economic systems co-evolved to support mutual aid, something Western frameworks struggle to replicate.
This isn’t to romanticize the Mosuo as perfect; like any society, they have their own pressures and conflicts. But taken as a whole, their example reveals glaring weaknesses in our current Western approach to “equality.”
VIII. Time to choose, have your cake or eat it.
“The Mosuo’s sustained success challenges Western feminists to reconsider their goals: perhaps equality shouldn’t mean just integrating women into existing capitalist structures, but radically transforming those structures themselves.”
The Mosuo illustrate that egalitarianism flourishes not through incremental policy tweaks but through systemic cultural and economic alignment. If Western feminism remains tethered to capitalism, its egalitarian ambitions will continue their downward spiral.
Any serious effort to bring feminist ideals to life would require thinking far beyond wage gaps or boardroom quotas. It would involve building at the local, national, and global levels something akin to the Mosuo’s communal ethic of kinship and shared responsibility.
This isn’t about abandoning feminist aspirations, quite the contrary. It’s a call for deeper reflection and bolder transformation. Western feminists could learn profoundly from the Mosuo’s lived experience: that equality means more than equal participation in a flawed system. It requires redefining the system itself.
Against the backdrop of economic crises, political polarization, and persistent inequality, perhaps it’s high time Western societies realized that chasing endless economic growth and championing individual triumphs are inadequate metrics for progress. True liberation, and if real egalitarianism is your goal it will only be possible when societies learn, like the Mosuo, to center our communities, re-imagine care, and share resources for the common good.