Choose a statement that is incorrect for Khasi Matriliny Society:

It is a society where women exercise dominance

The correct answer is Option (1) → It is a society where women exercise dominance

Several scholars have highlighted the inherent contradictions in matrilineal systems like that of Khasi. One such contradiction arises from the separation of the line of descent and inheritance on the one hand and the structure of authority and control on the other. The former, which links the mother to the daughter, comes in conflict with the latter, which links the mother’s brother to the sister’s son. [In other words, a woman inherits property from her mother and passes it on to her daughter, while a man controls his sister’s property and passes on control to his sister’s son. Thus, inheritance passes from mother to daughter whereas control passes from (maternal) uncle to nephew. Khasi matriliny generates intense role conflict for men (3). They are torn between their responsibilities to their natal house on the one hand, and to their wife and children on the other. 

The women are more adversely affected than men by the role conflict generated in the Khasi matrilineal system not only because men wield power (2) and women are deprived of it, but also because the system is more lenient to men when there is a transgression of rules. Women possess only token authority in Khasi society (Statement 1 is incorrect); it is men who are the defacto power holders (4). The system is indeed weighted in favour of male matri-kin rather than male patri-kin. [In other words, despite matriliny, men are the power holders in Khasi society; the only difference is that a man’s relatives on his mother’s side matter more than his relatives on his father’s side.]