Matriarchies, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, are societies in which

descent and relationship are reckoned through the female line [and] government or
rule by a woman or women is prevalent. In other words, societies in which women
have authority over men. The historical existence of such societies is still debated today
and they are regarded by many scholars as historical myths. However, the social
systems of certain indigenous tribes suggest the opposite. In the country of Gabon in
West Central Africa, for instance, the Sira people are an ethnic group in which women
are awarded the utmost importance. For one, the offspring of women are privileged
over those of men. One of the most salient examples of this is inheritance. When Sira
grandparents pass property on to their grandchildren, they tend to bequeath land to a
granddaughter by their daughter. In addition, women are regarded as the head of their
families. To this day, despite living in a predominantly patriarchal country, the
descendants of the Sira people maintain this matriarchal system.

North of Gabon, in Liberia, women have experienced a similar story of female

empowerment and involvement in public life. From as early as 1847, the year the
country was established, women have played a crucial role in its development. In
addition, during Liberias civil war between 1989 and 2003, their actions were
instrumental to the functioning of the country. Furthermore, Liberian women have been
regarded as a central part of Liberias transition in the decade after the war. Despite the
heavy involvement of Liberian women in public life, their political participation,
membership in parliament, access to education, and economic independence has seen a
slow rise.

Liberia was founded on the toil of women and their early participation in politics.
For instance, when early settlers were establishing Liberia, a woman named Matilda
Newport, armed with a cannon, defeated the natives who were encroaching on the
immigrants lives (Brooks, 1968). This facilitated their settlement. In addition, it was a
group of women, led by Susannah Lewis as chairman, that created the countrys first
flag. One hundred years after its establishment, in 1947, women were granted suffrage
and began contributing to building the country. In her 1968 journal on this
phenomenon, Angie E. Brooks reports that, at the time, over 30 Liberian women held
powerful positions both nationally and internationally. This included, Mrs. Etta Wright
as Assistant Secretary of National DefenseMai Padmore [as] Special Assistant to the
PresidentMrs. Henries [as]Director of Higher Education. Brooks goes on to mention
Mrs. Louise Ricks-Samuels, the first woman Foreign Service Officer, as Consul of
Liberia to Sierra Leone, the highest diplomatic post held at that time in Sierra Leone.
The author views this as evidences that women in Africa south of the Sahara exercised
political responsibilities to a considerable degree. However, it can be argued that such
women were few and far between.
In 1998, thirty years after the publication of this report, the University of London
recorded that only 2 out of 35 total members of the lower chamber of Liberias
parliament were women (Hatchard, 1998). Comparatively, Rwanda, which found itself
in the midst of a civil war around the same time as Liberia, recorded a female
participation in parliament of 17.1% (11% higher than that of Liberia). Neither of these
countries meet the world average of female political participation 30%. However, that
of Liberia is disappointingly low, for a country established with considerable women
involvement in public life. It should also be noted that many of the positions listed by
Brooks in her report are secretary positions. In his report on the issue, Hatchard
disscusses low figures for women in senior decision-making roles. This suggests that,
the image Brooks portrays of an equal-opportunity Liberia is a faade that is not
supported by statistics of female representation in high decision-making positions.
Many would not consider low-ranking positions such as secretary as allowing
women to exercise their political rights at a high degree.

If women are not allowed considerable participation in political life, there will
most likely be a lack of policies that favor womens needs; most importantly, it
threatens their ease of access to education and other services that would allow them to
flourish independently.

All told, women were very active in Liberian political life, but not in decision-
making positions that mattered. Though Liberia was built on the backs of women, their
political participation was not significant enough to call it a country in which gender
equality thrives.