Worldbuilding - Matriarchy Part 1

Welcome to my first post of Worldbuilding with Rocky. I plan on going over a lot of worldbuilding items using Rocky as a model for a colossal desert zaratan. I am going to be putting a settlement upon its back.

The reasons I want to create a matriarchy are simple. I grew up in a Matrilocal household (Yes that term is spelled correctly). I also love the matriarchy of the Drow in Dungeons and Dragons, not so much the Drow in Pathfinder though. The difference, in Pathfinder the Drow worship male deities. How can they have females be in power yet give males the ultimate power?

The question becomes does it really matter what gender Rocky, and by extension the desert zaratan, is with regards to worldbuilding? Well, if Rocky is female, she could be worshipped for housing and transporting their home or settlement. If Rocky is male than he would be seen as nothing more than a beast of burden. Big difference there.

So to tell the gender of a Russian tortoise there are four things to look at:

1. The length of the tail.
2. For Russian tortoises like Rocky, if the tail has a spur.
3. The shape of the underside in a mature (at least 4 years old) tortoise.
4. The shape of the shell notch under the tail.

I do not want my matriarchy to be completely like the DnD Drow nor the Amazons. Males, while second class citizens, will not be enslaved or ostracized. I want it to be more as explained in the article What are matriarchies, and where are they now? I want the elder females in power because that is what the community wants. I want the property and power to be passed down along the female line because females bring life.

By the way, Rocky is a male.