Patriarchy Is Not A Recipe For Happiness

A man says “ I believe that men as a whole should have one definition of what it takes to obtain that manhood’‘. A woman counteracts by saying “that is incorrect and honestly stupid that you think that...” Sexism by definition is discrimination by members of one sex against the other; based on the assumption that one sex is superior, psychologically, or intellectually. This experience inspired me to write about the hypocrisy of extreme feminists and how they discriminate men.

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.

Today, most men do not want feminism because it shortens their power. Men like having the authority and that was easy to maintain when many women were not working and stayed at home, following their orders. However, times have changes and more than half of women population work, causing men to lose power. There are still issues that shows that men are supposedly more superior to women such as wage gaps. Women get paid less than men is many jobs, such as medical. Many men seek power and they feel inarticulate if they are seen lower than women. Many men are abusive because they want to feel empowered and in control and in return, many females feel powerless and believe is that they are doing the wrong, which is what the man whats her to

Patriarchy is defined by the Feminist Theory as an unjust social system that is oppressive to both men and women and enforces gender roles. It often includes any social, political, or economic mechanism that evokes male dominance over women.

In order to further comprehend the reason for women’s oppression, one must first understand the root and history of this problem. Sexism and the idea of patriarchal societies have been around since ancient times. Journalists of the Macmillan Social Science Library define sexism as discrimination based on gender. They mention that such types of discrimination are often directed toward women: “Sexism may occur in major life events and in everyday behavior. Acts of rape, abuse, and sexual harassment are generally committed against women. In their daily lives, women have to deal with suggestive remarks about their appearance, sexist portrayals in the media, and pressures to behave in a way that reinforces gender stereotypes” (Macmillan Social

Before the Agricultural Revolution, women were not controlled by men. They were considered equal with men. In hunting and gathering societies there was neither matriarchy nor patriarchy observed. It was said that patriarchy began with the shift from gathering to agriculture. Reilly states “patriarchy is a society in which men have most of the important powers, at home as well as in the larger society.

Although most people might not have known what patriarchy meant, but they knew that men were given all the power and women were excluded from it. Patriarchy was a system of society in which men, the dominant gender, were leaders and they ruled both genders, however, since the beginning of the twentieth century, the society had changed due to the socializing, advertising and many more factors which lead to the idea of feminism. Patriarchy obviously favored men but feminism was a beautiful change because it assured feminine and masculine power.

As the ocean, western feminism moves in waves; first wave, second wave, and third wave. These waves are all categorized by their own hardships and struggles, from the very first suffrage movement to today’s international women’s march, each of these chapters have had different icons and revolutionaries, but overall have kept the same idea in mind; to achieve equality amongst all sexes and diminish the patriarchal society, where men are the rulers of society, in order to ensure both men and women are given the same opportunities to achieve in life.

Where did this patriarchal society come from? According to Collins patriarchy is a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it. This is synonymous to the oppression of women. We assume the lack of evidence which tells us that all societies have been patriarchal because it has been rooted in biology or in the environment. It is implausible to believe men actually came together from all over the world with the conclusion suppressing women was acceptable. Some believe if there had not been patriarchal societies we would all be completely destroyed. This was once a necessary mechanism used for survival that quickly died out due to women stepping out with confidence.

The definition of feminism states “the belief that men and woman should have equal rights and opportunities” (“feminism”). Modern feminism is no longer about equality and is in fact counterproductive to the cause. The fight for equal rights has been transformed into a fight for privilege, waged against causes insignificant in the big picture of gender equality; causes like manspreading, cat calls, air conditioning, and representation in video games. We are waging a war in a new and changed society, using an old definition of what the movement is meant to be. Modern-day feminism is now obsolete in the Western World because the fight for equal rights between genders has been won.

Patriarchy is a system and a structure of power that creates privileges for men while oppressing women. It is a social system that we participate, both consciously and unconsciously. It is embedded in major institutions, such as schools, workplaces, homes, and media. The operating system also allows for individual man to victimize and commit violence against individual woman (Neuenfeldt, 2015). In the home, patriarchy allows for husbands to have dominance over his wife. The oppression that women face at home becomes a mediating factor in women’s performance outside the home (Omvedt, 1986). The concept of patriarchy comes from the [something] Era, where the church had significant power in dictating the thoughts and actions of its people. The church perpetuated the idea

In a patriarchy, women are assured a subordinate social position. “Patriarchy requires that women are kept in their place by violence, or the fear of violence. The female is viewed as an object to men, and men can do as they wish with a woman” (Radford, 1992, p. 5).

Traditional feminist theorisation focussed on the notion of patriarchy, that male dominated society serves the needs of men, while oppressing women (Walby 1990). However, the view that all men oppress all women is now widely seen as inaccurate and oversimplified. While some women are indeed victims of male oppression, this is not the case for all women, as some may be in positions in which they exert

There was a belief that patriarchy is enforced through two major forces that were tradition and religion but as they are no more working forces patriarchy should have got vanished from the society. But as we all know this bitter fact that even now women still don’t rule themselves. Then what are those wheels through which it is still in momentum?

Read the "Introduction" to The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner and answer the following questions: