The Patriarchal System Essay

Researchers Stier and Yaish (2014) have stated, “men’s employment is more stable, their salaries are higher and they have more opportunities for advancement and access to lucrative jobs” (p. 1). Indeed, men have more advantages in the society to gain power than women. Therefore, men are still dominating over women in occupations. Furthermore, “women are denied access to good and rewarding labor market positions by employers and because of their inferior power position in society their work is devalued and they are often ‘pushed’

Social reproduction refers to the continuous intergenerational physically and emotionally exhausting household labour that is needed to maintain life (Trotz, lecture, Jan 13, 2016). This kind of labour though is considered to be a woman’s duty. Since an economic activity happens where there is a market, social reproduction is not considered as one as it doesn’t have a visible market. Even though, it doesn’t have market value, domestic work greatly contribute to the economy (Waring, 2013). Since this work is done in homes and by women who are usually marginalized, it remains invisible and thus not considered for pay. This kind of work depends on the traditional division of labour in which women are seen as housewives while men, breadwinners. Thus, the gendering of social reproduction is a result of “doing gender,” where women’s abilities to be mothers are naturalized (Coltrane, 1989); in other words, women are made to fit into the simplistic “domestic = family = heterosexual woman = care and love” equation (Manalansan & Martin, 2008, p.2), while any man who does the caring work in a family is feminized and considered a lesser man (Coltrane, 1989).Thus, a woman’s femininity depends on her motherhood while a man’s masculinity depends on “not doing mother’s work” (Coltrane, 1989, p.473).

Traditional gender roles (men performing instrumental tasks and women performing expressive tasks) are viewed as important not only for the individual but also for the economic and social order of society. Failure to maintain the traditional division of labor is believed to lead to destruction of family life as well as higher rates of crime, violence, and drug abuse. Human capital theorists claim that sex differences in promotion rates are due to sex differences in commitment, education, and experience; women are believed to have less to offer employers. Even if these differences exist, this position ignores the fact that women are in a system of inequality, where social expectations prevent them from having qualifications that are similar to men. The conflict perspective emphasizes men’s control over scarce resources. The gendered division of labor within families and in the workplace results from male control of and dominance over women and resources. Differentials between men and women may exist in terms of economic, political, physical, and/or interpersonal power. Men remain the head of household and control the property. Also, men gain power through their predominance in the most highly paid and prestigious occupations and the highest elected offices. Liberal/Equal Rights Feminists – seek equal access for females within the current social system; focus is on equality of opportunity (e.g., civil rights and occupational equality). Radical/Transformative Feminists –

The patriarchal society is based on powers in relationships—whether that power is men over women, bosses over their workers and even parents over their children. Relationships

Families provide the logic that translates women's into many material vantages places greater depth of emphasis on sex oppression Radical feminists and labor market, As Hamilton explains, med capitalist relations, bur rather argue that is sex oppression is buried far deeper Esoterically and psychically.

On April 8, 2014 Barack Obama issued two Executive Orders into legislation that were designed to help eliminate the wage differences between men and women. Although this is a good first step there is still a lot that must be accomplished in order for their to be equality on wages between males and females. Michael Kimmel’s book The Gendered Society discusses this issue within Chapter 9: Separate and Unequal. Coming at the issue from a very sociological perspective Kimmel argues that the wage gap is a “[…] major consequence of the combination of sex segregation and the persistence of archaic gender ideologies” (Kimmel 261). From my perspective, I agree with all of the points Kimmel is making and believe that this chapter provides an educational background on the inequality between men and women in the workplace. However, my qualm with Kimmel’s chapter is that he does not really discuss the patriarchal structure of capitalism as a whole. In this paper I will discuss the solid arguments The Gendered Society makes in Chapter 9 while also trying to relate them to my position that capitalism is sexist by nature.

Throughout the history of the world, gender roles have been ever evolving. In Peter N. Stearns’s Gender in World History book, the chapter “The Traditional Base: Civilizations and Patriarchy” attempts to shed light on the change in gender roles and how the establishment of civilizations effected the roles that each gender played in society. Stearns’s thesis is that “While civilizations developed, amid contact but also limitations of exchange, gender systems- relations between men and women, assignment of roles and definitions of the attributes of each sex- had been taking shape as well.” In the chapter, Stearns constructs a well-organized argument that is clear and concisely shows the affects that patriarchy had, during the classical

There are many women over the ages that would be called feminist. Those would be the women (and even men) that stood up and face the oppressors of women’s rights head on, but the backed justice to have an open dialogue has only been around for about a hundred years. Before that time you were likely to be imprisoned or killed. To get around this patriarchy, women like Queen Elizabeth and Elizabeth Cary, borrowed the old poetic device of allegory. The argument I’m going to present is that these women, through their allegories, helped paved the way for women’s rights and political power.

My experience, or “biography” with gender and gender inequality can be attributed to what C. Wright Mills’s calls “history”, or the social world. According to Mills, our individual lives interact with society to formulate our experiences. This perspective “enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society” (C. Wright Mills 3). As discussed in Module Twelve: Gender, Work, and Family, women and men are placed into two separate spheres; the private sphere and the public sphere. My life experiences relate to the private sphere, which is associated with femininity and domestic work. Society reserves the public sphere for men only, in which they are dominant and “breadwinners”. This is the sphere that I have been conditioned by society to not pursue.

Therefore, feminist sociology is not effective in leading women towards change or an end to dominant heterosexual assumptions that put patriarchy at power. Thus, it is difficult for women to breakthrough the oppression merely on theories and lacking practical action or reforms. When sociologists, such as Smith uses categories to analyze the relationship between women and her male counterpart, she draws on this notion that there is this believed or assumed natural heterogender relationship in society. As Smith proposed, men are able to work in the public materialist world and contribute to the everyday capitalist world is due to the existence of a female figure working within the private sphere to support the workings within the household, and in turn, make a patriarchal and capitalist society possible. Therefore, there is the assumed husband and wife, nuclear family in the household, with each playing their part and indicating that every individual is required to situate themselves as actors in this

The definition of masculinity shows young males that in order to be respected, power must be applied upon others and intimidation is the only method of gaining this respect. Through the use of this power and intimidation, females are often oppressed and kept under the control of men. Woman has need of the male in order to gain human dignity, to eat, to enjoy life, to procreate; it is through the service of sex that she gets these benefits; because she is confined to that function, she is wholly an instrumentality of exploitation (De Beauvoir, 360). Males use power over women to reassure their manliness and to portray their masculinity. This violence is not only present in households. It is also present in masculinity versus nature in a capitalist society, where the environment must be altered and destroyed for economic gains. It appears that violence against nature-that is, the impossible and disastrous drive to dominate and conquer the natural world-is integrally connected with domination among humans (Kaufman, 7). Another example of showing this power is through rape and sexual abuse. Through rape, men display their dominance in the most violent and gruesome ways. As Kaufman notes, in the testimonies of rapists on hears over and over again expressions of inferiority, powerlessness, anger (15). By committing this crime, males display their physical strength upon the victim and this is what masculinity is defined as, a display of power and

Gloria Jean Watkins, known by her pen name Bell Hooks (the name of her great grandmother), was born September 25, 1952. She grew up to be the author of more than three dozen books, the topics of which range from gender, race, and class, to spirituality, and contemporary media. Hooks attended Stanford University, The University of Wisconsin, and The University of California, Santa Cruz, eventually earning her P.h.D. In her article, “Understanding Patriarchy,” Hooks argues that patriarchy isn’t only harmful to women, it’s harmful to men as well, in different ways. Patriarchy sets rigid gender roles that say women are to be docile, obedient, and nurturing, while men should be violent, dominating, and aggressive. This ideal greatly emotionally stunts men, and makes it so that they cannot express themselves in any way other than aggression. In this article, Hooks was very effective in explaining and giving examples as to why the patriarchy negatively affects both men and women, and that it is up to both to break free from these constraints and work together to end the patriarchy.

Gender inequality has been an issue since long before the 1840s, when feminists finally brought the problem to light. Most ancient cultures were societies based on gender inequality, skewed towards male-dominance. Most societies are still mostly patriarchal, in fact. Patriarchy is the root of discrimination between sexes and genders and has been for a very long time.

Institution, ones traditions, and everyday lives are filled with examples of men in positions of authority over women” (Kay, 2012). Inequalities in gender can be seen in marriage as well as parenting. It is believed that by many that a man should have a higher income than a female. In some cases women are being paid less than men in their work place and yet they hold the same credentials as men, this is where secondary status comes in. In most households it’s the female who cooks and clean look after the kids while the men work but roles can be divided when faced with certain duties, to accommodate one another. “Gender inequality forms the basis of sexism, misogynist and the prejudiced beliefs that males overpower females” (Anon. 2016).

Throughout the course of human history, societies worldwide tend to follow a specific pattern of male domination in politics, economics, and culture. From the earliest city-states of Mesopotamia to the massive empires of China and Rome, women were forced to take a limited role in society. This systematic oppression of women is indicative of a patriarchal society, in which “women have been subordinate to men in the family and in society generally” (Ways of the World 59). Though these civilizations share the characteristic of male supremacy, each had different practices governing interactions between the genders. Each society had a unique idea of exactly what rights women were afforded and how the patriarchy was enforced. The Mesopotamian, Chinese, and Greek civilizations were undeniably patriarchal, but how the dominance of men was expressed varied between each society.