Patriarchal Society Between Women And Women

Patriarchy is a social system in which males holds power and predominate major political roles and leadership, authority and privilege. In the family, fathers and grandparents holds the power to control over women and children. Most patriarchal society is patrilineal that the authority is automatically passed down from father to son, and the cycle continues on without any female interference. Patriarchal society has predominated most societies in history.

However, whilst each ‘strand’ of feminism views patriarchy differently, it could be argued that rather than considering patriarchy as three different entities, they are in fact each observing a different angle of the problem. They are all in agreement, nevertheless, that women are indeed subordinate to men within society, and that this needs to be changed. Therefore, in terms of the core theme of patriarchy, feminism can be considered a single doctrine.

In this essay I will explore the different schools of feminism such as Marxist, liberal and radical feminism, who share the view that women are oppressed in a patriarchal society but differ in opinion on who benefits from the inequalities. Each school of feminism has their own understanding of family roles and relationships which I will assess through this essay.

First, it is imperative that one knows what exactly patriarchy is: “a social system in which power is held by men, through cultural norms and customs that favor men and withhold opportunity from women” (“Patriarchy”). Any social structure where men outrank women, where men are provided with an unequal increase in opportunities, or any system that instills stereotypical traits, or gender roles, falls under this category.

1. What is a patriarchal society? In what ways do the different civilizations we have studied exhibit patriarchy and how did they reinforce it (hint: Hammurabi’s code, Chinese philosophy, Ancient

According to Crittenden and Wright (1999) one strategy to keep patriarchy in place is by using violence against women, this is not to say that all men use violence to maintain the male domination of society (Macionis and Plummer, 1998). Nevertheless there is evidence that suggests that the top levels of society, especially at the level where laws are made that the patriarchy are in control. An example of this is in 1991 rape was still considered legal within a marriage in England and Wales, this can be seen as an acceptance and observance of patriarchal ideas (Painter, 1995). This lack of law change may be because of the majority of the top jobs in government are held by men, from this it can be argued that the fact that rape was legal in marriage up to 1991 shows the male domination of the legal and political systems that women have to live under. This is in contrast with Australian law which removed the marital exemption from cases of marital rape at the earlier time of 1981 (Larcombe and Heath 2012). It is said by feminists that male power and dominance is throughout society and that domestic violence is a direct result of the patriarchal view of women’s place in society (Aitken, 2007). There is an opposing view to what causes men to become domestically violent, that it is because of an individual’s problems rather

In a world where male-dominance is the standard for societies, there will always be a group of the subdominant gender that is looking to change the way that society functions, to achieve equality. However, opposers to the form sometimes head towards the extremes and surpass equality, only to achieve dominance. In Sarah Hall’s novel, Daughters of the North, she follows the protagonist, Sister, on her journey away from the dystopian, patriarchal society of England to an off-the-charts, female-only commune, named Carhullan. Sister dreams of a matriarchal, utopian community that is far different than the city she had left; however, what she finds is that Carhullan is not necessarily better, but simply ruled by a different, dominant gender. All in all, this paper argues that matriarchal societies are not superior to, but rather an inversion of patriarchal societies.

Defined simply however, it implies a system in which the father or a male member who is considered as the head of the family, controls all economic and property resources, makes all the major decisions of the family and thereby maintains ongoing control over all members of the family and those related to it. Very clearly, this system establishes male dominance and control over women in society, in general, and particularly so within the family. The ‘unequal power relationship’ between men and women, accrues power to men in an important institution of society. Thus, it is important to see patriarchy as both an ideology of women's subordination and control, and, a concept of struggle against the

This anger at the women’s movement is not new. It has plagued feminism throughout history. R.M Janes in her work, “On the Reception of Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” says, “Perhaps it all began over two hundred years ago when Horace Walpole called Mary Wollstone¬craft a ‘hyena in petticoats’” (Janes 299). It is not surprising anymore that not only men, but women too have become misogynistic. What is patriarchy’s biggest win is perhaps the internalization of the various norms that the society makes women live by. Bartky has explained this idea of invisible chains that women have adorned through Jeremy Bentham’s idea of the ‘Panopticon’, where quoting Foucault’s Discipline and Punishment, she says that with the “‘state

Throughout the history of the world, patriarchy has been rooted into the very essence of our lives, shaping our thoughts and actions. Patriarchy is present in virtually every society and unfortunately is the underlying problem to most violence in the world, particularly violence towards women. Patriarchy exemplifies the misogyny that has been ever-present since probably the beginning of every society. Whether it is discrimination towards women, lack of equal rights, or

Feminist theory analyzes the gender inequality that women have faced throughout the years due to a patriarchal society. Women were expected to fit the traditional female and conform to the gender norms that society has constructed. According to A Brief Introduction to Critical Theory, “Feminism embodies a way of reading that investigates the text’s investment in or reaction to the patriarchal power structures that have dominated Western culture” (227). Patriarchal power has oppressed women economically, socially, and politically. Women were associated more with domesticity than with politics and financial situations. They were not provided the same educational opportunities as men. These issues have been addressed by people, such as Mary

Patriarchy usually means a family that is male-dominated and headed by the father. It is a social construct in which men and masculine roles are considered to be absolutely superior to women and feminine roles. A society is considered patriarchal when it is male-dominated, male-centered, and male-identified. Being a male-dominated culture means that positions of power and authority in the political, economic, legal, religious, domestic, educational, and military spheres are usually reserved only for men. Male-identification means that a culture’s ‘normal’ way of living is based on men and their lives. Male-dominance means that the culture has been shaped by men in a way that mostly serves male interests. Patriarchal societies are male-identified because their core ideals concerning what is morally right, desirable or normal are connected with how they think about masculinity or men in general. They are always male-centered, with the culture’s focus is

With a medieval Europe’s view of a patriarchal world, the idea of women as an inferiority to men was inevitable. However, the idea of women being “the wicked of all wickedness” (Kramer) elevated such view into what we know as misogyny. The medieval witch trials exemplifies the product of gender specific hatred outweighing the initial view of religious

It is difficult to imagine living in a world without the patriarchal roles that are present in society and have been throughout history. In the article “Feminist Criticism,” by Lois Tyson, the idea of feminism and how society has affected feminism is the focus. These ideas are seen because men have more of a voice in nearly everything and the oppression of women is very common; a society set up like this can be described with the term patriarchy which is “any culture that privileges men by promoting traditional gender roles,” where men are cast as “rational, strong, protective, and decisive,” and women are cast “as emotional, weak, nurturing, and submissive” (Tyson, 1). This thought that men are strong and women weak is not uncommon in

Before examining particular societies, the general notions of patriarchy must be established. Generally, women were considered inferior to men, but each facet of society provides a distinctive insight into gender roles. A fundamental difference between the two genders was that the responsibility of a man was to be a member of the public, whereas the responsibility of a woman was to be in the home. Social norms defined men as “rulers, warriors, scholars, and heads of households” (Ways of the World 59). Even if a man had little