Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-29
MALE DOMINATION
HIT BY SCIENTIST
Robert BriffauIt Says Mrs.
Caveman Accepted Respon-
sibiIity for Family.
BY THOMAS R. HENRY.


Dad" didn't always pay the bills.
It was Mrs. Caveman and her daugh-
tiers for countless generations who &C
cepted all responsibility for the family,
according to Robert Briffault, noted
British anthropologist and foremost adj
vocate of the theory of matriarchal de-
velopment Of civilization, who Is now
In Washington.
Perhaps for the greater part of
human history the father accepted no
responsibility, seeking only enough to
eat and place to sleep for himself
while the women and children lived on
their own resources, he says.
DR.. Briffault Is. the guest Of Gerritt 8.
Miller, jr., curator of mammals of the
Smithsonian Institution, and is gather
ing additional evidence of family" life
among the anthropoid apes, which, he
believes, approximates the condition out
Of which the human family developed
Denies Male Domination.
Basing his conclusions on studies of
life among mammals and among primi-
tive peoples the world over, Dr. Bril-
fault denies the concept of an original
family of one or more females and their
children dominated by "the old man"
q condition sometimes found among
more advanced primitives and to some
extent among civilized races. All the
evidence. he says, points to q far-oh
day in the development of human cul-
ture when the mother was the unques-
toned boss of the household, when the
father had no concern for the chill
dren and when males in general went
their own way with no family RESPONSE
bility.
out of this condition, he believes.
much of civilization has come. The
mother, with her sucking children at
tached to her, was forced to remain
for indefinite periods In one place. The
male could wander as he pleased, Sc
lecting the environment which best
suited him. The mother had to make
her own environment 10 some extent.
This led to the invention and develop
ment of pottery basketry, textiles,
cooking, and even the building of
houses and architecture entirely by
women. They had to get and con-
serve food for themselves and their
children, since there were no husbands.
The men could get their food by
hunting. Woman was obliged to find
some less strenuous way-so agricul-
ture developed.
Take Name Of Mother.
This condition is reflected in the
background of the laws of primitive
peoples, says DIR. Briffault. Children
take the name of the mother, not the
father. Property descends in the
female line. The education of boys is
undertaken not by their fathers but
by their maternal uncles. It is also
reflected, he says, in the bride price
or the dowry. Originally the husband
lived with his wife in her own home.
This was considered the natural order.
Later, when he began TO have herds
which represented money, man estab-
lShed home of his own. In order to
obtain a mate in this home he had to
pay a price for her to leave her own
home. It never was q case of pur-
chasing q wife.
Society changed to the basis of the
patriarchal family, DR.. Brinault be-
pastoral stage of human society, when
men more or less abandoned hunting
for the tending of fiocks and thus
secured something which passed for
wealth. All pastoral societies, he finds,
are patriarchal These represent a
very important stage In human develop
ment. The Jewish people of early
Biblical days, for example, we're pastoral
1t was assumed that as things were
then they always had been. So the
Adam and Eve'' concept of human
4dAklAy IC1db1OkASkl1Q arose ana was
given q religious sanction, which is
partly responsible for the form of the
family today.
Division Of Labor.
In primitive Society, DIR. Birffault
points out, there is always a sharp
division of labor. Man tends to the
hunting and fighting. Woman tends
to the care Of the children. household
crafts and agriculture This arises
from the time when each sex took care
Of itself, with no thought for the welfare
of the other. It was easier for man
to live by hunting. It was easier for
woman to live by agriculture The
man never brought any of his game
home to feed the woman or the chill
dren, whom he did not even recognize
as his own. They had to fend for
themselves.
This IS largely the condition among
mammals, he says. It Is impossible to
md authentic records. even among the
higher apes, Of the male feeding the
female. There are more anecdotes with
more claim to truthfullness, he says, Of
some female feeding a disabled male.
But, he holds, such cases would be ex
treInely rare. In the family groups" OF
such mammals as the gorilla, which
consist of several males, several females
and their children, he says, there is no
division into homogeneous or polygynous
families, with male assuming RESPONSE
bility for any wives or children The
oldest and strongest Of the group may
be the leader. This usually is a male,
but there are cases where an old female |
is found In control.