THE WORLD WHERE
WOMEN HUNT AND
MEN BREASTFEED
For most breastfeeding women, round-
the-clock physical proximity to their
newborn is part of the deal. Not so for
the nomadic women of the Aka Pygmy
tribe in Central Africa. Female mem-
bers of the 20,000-strong ethnic group
get a reprieve from maternal duties –
taking to the savanna for long hours of
hunting while the fathers stay behind.
The paternal day care system goes
something like this: while the women
are out hunting down dinner, the men
play with the children, even ofering
their bare chests as a soothing natural
alternative to dummies.
Anthropologists have declared Aka
men the world’s best dads as they are
within reach of their children 47 per
cent of the time – more than fathers in
any other cultural group on the planet.
It’s the equal co-parenting statistic that
Western countries dream of.
This is not to say that Aka mothers
don’t enjoy the more nurturing side of
life – both sexes are just as competent
in more traditional roles. And it’s this
flexibility that sets the Aka people
apart. They have, by both necessity and
culture, developed an ability to slip
seamlessly into whatever role is
required of them, without losing status.Right: Aka Pygmy
men have been
declared the best dads
in the world.Over half of Rwanda’s politicians are
female, making up 64 per cent of seats.Left: women own all
the property among
the Minangkabau
people of Indonesia.THE SACRED MOTHER
In the eyes of much of the Western
world a woman’s worth diminishes as
soon as she becomes a mother. But in
the world of the Minangkabau people of
Indonesia, bearing children does noth-
ing to dampen a woman’s financial
prospects. In fact, it does the opposite.
The Minangkabau, an ethnic group in
Western Sumatra, are the largest
matrilineal society in the world, with
property and money passing solely
down maternal lines.
Mothers, sisters and aunts typically
live together or close by one another,
and while men live with women, the
house is never considered theirs. Even
influential Minangkabau men are
viewed through the lens of their
mothers. A museum dedicated to Mo-
hammad Hatta (a beloved Indonesian
president and independence fighter)
stands in Western Sumatra. The name
of this museum? Translated, it means
“Mohammad Hatta’s Mum’s House.”
But Minang men don’t sufer from
this arrangement – the emphasis on
female asset-holding means men are
free to seek employment and political
rule, which has the efect of creating a
huge diaspora of Minang males in posi-
tions of political and academic power
throughout Indonesia.
REBUILDING
WITH WOMEN
AT THE HELM
Rwanda is not known for its
exemplary attitude towards
women, but things are changing.
The war-ravaged country is
reinventing itself, and it’s women
who are leading the way.
Quotas were introduced to
boost representation of women
in parliament and now more
than half of Rwanda’s politicians
are female. Also, in a study*
ranking countries on their eforts
to close the gender pay gap,
Rwanda is rated fourth in the
world – beaten only by
Scandinavian countries.
(Australia is at number 35.)
It hasn’t always been like this.
Before the 1994 genocide, a
woman’s place was firmly in the
home. It was almost unheard of
for girls to seek higher education
or find paid employment. But
the war saw nearly one million
people wiped out in bloody
slaughter. The survivors were
up to 70 per cent female, and
largely uneducated. Something
had to change, and it did.
President Paul Kagame – whose
army stopped the genocide and
has continued to lead in
Rwanda ever since – decreed
that the focus needed to shift to
girls. And now the entire
populace is banking on the idea
that the future is female.WORLD REPORT