Welcome to Letters From a Young Matriarch. Let’s step into our power, together.
After my essay on matriarchy being the next wave of feminism went viral, I realized there is a huge community of people who want to learn more about matriarchy and different power structures. I wanted to create a dedicated space where I could share my intimate thoughts about matriarchy with you.
Here’s what you can expect from LFAYM:
✨ A vision for the future. To transcend patriarchy, we have to imagine something new and better. Expect tangible and realistic ways to implement matriarchy today.
🌀 Intimate reflections. I have the lived experience of womanhood (and motherhood) under patriarchy. So many of us share this experience, and I hope to convey the complexity and unique power of this journey with honesty and care.
📰 Commentary on current events. Dissecting the ways patriarchy shapes our world, from politics to pop culture, and how we can respond.
💌 An invitation to step into your power. You have innate strength. In these letters, we will recognize the ways patriarchy seeks to weaken us and remind ourselves of the power and wisdom that has always been ours.
Why matriarchy?
We already know that patriarchy needs to be dismantled. Patriarchal ways of living have normalized relationships of domination and exploitation, leaving the Earth decimated and billions of people in poverty.
Patriarchy has created complex hierarchies that split people up into “inferior” and “superior”, thwarting us from creating egalitarian relationships. Anything to do with care and love is dismissed as feminine which is equated with weakness and has been devalued, preventing humans and our societies from becoming balanced and whole.
That’s why we need matriarchy. Creating a matriarchal future is about transforming our society on every level: the personal, the political, the economic, and the way we relate to nature. It’s about unlearning patriarchal conditioning that teaches us human beings are inherently greedy or bad. It’s about imagining a future where care, nurturing, and empathy are sources of power and respect. It’s about stewarding the Earth and treasuring the abundance we have inherited. It’s about being responsible ancestors.
LFAYM will be about exploring the ways patriarchy has harmed us, and how we can choose and create matriarchy, right now.
I'm Nergiz, a writer, artist, and young matriarch. I grew up in the West but with the Azerbaijani cultural values of my mothers, from whom I inherited ancestral matriarchal knowledge: the quiet, life-sustaining labor of tending the land, preserving food, and nurturing community. But this lineage was scarred by patriarchy and suppressed by colonialism, its sacredness and power erased.
In studying ecofeminism, I traced the links between the exploitation of women and the Earth, but I hadn’t yet seen what could take its place. Becoming a mother opened my eyes to matriarchy as a tangible social structure that could heal our societies. My work is a reclamation of the matriarchal wisdom in my lineage, naming it as sacred and powerful, and inviting others to do the same.
Today, I bridge academic research and popular understanding through viral graphics and essays, translating complex ideas about matriarchy and ecofeminism into actionable wisdom. I am a member of a global matriarchal council alongside thinkers like Heide Goettner-Abendroth and Genevieve Vaughan. My work and upcoming book are part of a growing grassroots movement to restore power to care and ecological wisdom.
Let’s step into our power and create matriarchy, together.
The gift of digital friendship with you is enough and fills my heart. However, if you have the means and find value in my work, please consider purchasing a subscription. Your support gives me nourishment and enables me to care for my daughter and keep sharing my knowledge.
