THE MATRIFOCAL FAMILY IN IBERIA - SPAIN AND PORTUGAL COMPARED

Although matrifocality has faded somewhat as a topic in cultural anthr opology, interest in the concept has revived in Mediterranean studies. Recent work in the northwest corner of Iberia (north/central Portugal and Spanish Galicia) reveals a highly matrifocal family structure. Th is anomalous pattern seems linked in some yet-undefined way with a pre vailing emphasis on female dominance in this part of the Mediterranean world. Yet in the rest of the Iberian peninsula matrifocal families d o not correlate with female power; in fact, the opposite is true. For example, in southern Spain, matrifocality coexists with male dominance and machismo within an honor-and-shame value system. This paper compa res a village in central Portugal with one in Andalusia in an attempt to gain insight into this Iberian conundrum.