The Mosuo and Minangkabau Cultures Free Essay Example

After watching the documentary on the Mosuo culture and reading about the Minangkabau culture, I found many similarities between the two of them. The first thing I noticed on how they were similar was that the females were the rulers of the household in each culture. The Mosuo and Minangkabau cultures put females in charge of everything from raising the children, working in the farmlands, which leads to them making the money for the household. Another similarity I noticed between the two cultures is that males have little to no say in big decisions that concern the family. The biggest thing that I took away from these two cultures is that the women in these cultures run basically everything while the male’s roles within these cultures is very minimum. These two cultures had their similarities, but they also shared differences also. 

One of the main differences I noticed between these two cultures had to do with the way their marriages work. The Mosuo culture allows walking marriages and the males for the most part hardly ever live with their wives. The Minangkabau culture on the other hand has the husband leaving his family and coming to live with his wife’s family. Another difference I noticed was how the Mosuo culture did not really judge the women on who they married or how many men they married, but the Minangkabau culture was very harsh with judgment when it came to the women deciding on who to marry. The Minangkabau families would have to approve of the marriage and sometimes even arrange the marriage with someone they approved of. I thought how the two cultures viewed marriages as the most interesting and were some of the biggest differences among the two. 

Both cultures have been around along time, but with time comes change and these cultures are no exception to the rule. One thing I found interesting was when they interviewed the younger generation of the Mosuo culture and how it seemed a lot of them had no interest in doing things how they have been done, instead it seemed like a lot of them wanted to go more modern with their cultures and explore the bigger cities. The same can be said about the Minangkabau culture because a lot of the women have improved their education and in return have started to make more money, but since most of the jobs are in bigger cities a lot of the women have been leaving and while away have started to marry men outside of their culture and have also become more modern. I found it interesting how the older generations seemed to think that their culture would last forever, and no real changes would happen, but from the outside looking in they both seem to be endangered. I think the impact will be felt drastically on both these cultures one day, because the younger generations are gravitating towards more freedom and more modern lifestyles. 

While both of these cultures are different than the one I’m used to, there are still a lot of the same concepts I can relate to when it comes to younger generation verses older generations. The biggest concept being marriage, and how a lot of the older generations were married young, but that has taken a turn with a lot of the younger generations waiting until they’re older and more established, very similar to how the younger Minangkabau females think. While our cultures may be different, it’s interesting to see how marriage from one culture is like ours when it comes to older versus younger generation thinking.