Dude, You Don’t Understand What ‘Egalitarian’ Means

I hear all of the time from guys who want to challenge the fact that patriarchy only arose about 6–9 thousand years ago and that prior to this time, humans overwhelmingly lived in largely egalitarian communities — as foragers, but also in many proto-agricultural communities such as <a href="https://medium.com/inside-of-elle-beau/%C3%A7atalh%C3%B6y%C3%BCk-ancient-land-of-peace-and-egalitarianism-590ca9d5e1eb" rel="noopener">Çatalhöyük</a>. Besides the fact that this is the most widely accepted view of anthropologists (and it isn’t just me saying this), at least some of them don’t seem to really get what the term ‘egalitarian’ actually means, which is part of their quibble. So, let’s clear that up. Modern hunter-gatherers around the world have some differences in their societies, but the main thing that they all have in common is egalitarianism. This doesn’t necessarily mean perfect equality or some type of Utopianism, it refers instead to a lack of centralized leadership, and a fundamental belief in personal autonomy. Family ties and the well-being of the group are also extremely important. Even in bands where men have more power than women, there is still typically a kind of balance between them. <a href="https://medium.com/inside-of-elle-beau/dude-you-dont-understand-what-egalitarian-means-af51c6ff3ac5">Learn More</a>