Lugu Lake

I read with interest “In Lugu Lake, Marriage is a Ticklish Affair” (Dec. 26), about the Mosuo in southwest China. It is very important to gain knowledge of cultures that organize their lives differently from our own. However, I feel that the writer falls into the trap of sensationalizing the women-centered lifestyle of the Mosuo people.

Also, as is commonly done, she uses matriarchal and matrilineal as synonyms. Matriarchy is a vague term that describes a mythic situation, as compared to matriliny, which is historical fact and means that people trace their descent through the mother. This means, among other things, that children are named after the mother and thus receive their position in the social structure through her and not the father.

It is unfortunate that your writer plays up the idea of women having lovers rather than getting married, without explaining how family bonds develop among the Mosuo. Also, various sources on the Mosuo report that they have an extremely low crime rate and that rape is unknown.

Thus, what we are seeing here is not an “exotic” culture but a people who have created styles of gender interaction that obviously reduce violence against women, a point worth pondering.

BARBARA WATSON

San Diego

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So the Lugu Lake region in China has a matriarchal society. As reported in The Times, unmarried women give discreet signals to the men, who are expected to come to their house after dark, have sex with them and leave before daylight. If a child is conceived, the woman keeps the baby and the man has no relationship to the child. In addition to doing the cooking, the women do most of the work in the village, with the exception of a few heavy chores, which the men do when they are not sitting around smoking and playing billiards. The women, who are strong, take care of themselves and do not look to the men for support.

It is nice to know that in our diverse society, we can still look to other cultures to find a model to emulate.

DAVID GOODWIN

Los Angeles