Matrilinial culture is a culture that does not rely on state issued receipts called birth certificates that determine one's surname.
Huh? I thought in this country parents decided on a child's name and surname, and the state only recorded the parents' decision?
The parents are not equal in the eyes of the state-despite what laws and rights it may prop up.
The practice of Taking the father and husband's name, very literally, began with abject slavery.