Patriarchy
Patriarchal ideology explains and rationalizes patriarchy by attributing gender inequality to inherent natural differences between men and women, divine commandment, or other fixed structures.
[22][23][24][further explanation needed] Some preconditions for the eventual development of patriarchy were the emergence of increased paternal investment in the offspring, also referred to as fatherhood, and of a sexual division of labour.
[39] Domination by men of women is found in the Ancient Near East as far back as 3100 BCE, as are restrictions on a woman's reproductive capacity and exclusion from "the process of representing or the construction of history".
[34][35] The archaeologist Marija Gimbutas argues that waves of kurgan-building invaders from the Ukrainian steppes into the early agricultural cultures of Old Europe in the Aegean, the Balkans and southern Italy instituted male hierarchies that led to the rise of patriarchy in Western society.
[40] Steven Taylor argues that the rise of patriarchal domination was associated with the appearance of socially stratified hierarchical polities, institutionalised violence and the separated individuated ego associated with a period of climatic stress.
[41] A prominent Greek general Meno, in the Platonic dialogue of the same name, sums up the prevailing sentiment in Classical Greece about the respective virtues of men and women.
In ancient Egypt, middle-class women were eligible to sit on a local tribunal, engage in real estate transactions, and inherit or bequeath property.
Quaker Sarah Grimké voiced skepticism about the ability of men to translate and interpret passages relating to the roles of the sexes without bias.
However, at the time contemporary with Constantine in the West, "the emperor of Japan changed Japanese modes of worship", giving supremacy to male deities and suppressing belief in female spiritual power in what feminist scholars in the field of religious studies have called a "patriarchal revolution.
[58] Ban Zhao is considered by some historians as an early champion for women's education in China; however, her extensive writing on the value of a woman's mediocrity and servile behavior leaves others feeling that this narrative is the result of a misplaced desire to cast her in a contemporary feminist light.
[64] Sociologists[clarification needed] tend to reject predominantly biological explanations of patriarchy[65] and contend that socialization processes are primarily responsible for establishing gender roles.
[67] Even in modern, developed societies, however, gender messages conveyed by family, mass media, and other institutions largely favor males having a dominant status.
This claim cloaks the fact that men also have periods of time where they can be aggressive and irrational; furthermore, unrelated effects of aging and similar medical problems are often blamed on menopause, amplifying its reputation.
This patriarchal structure is most apparent in the American representation of a nuclear family; the father works and brings home an income while the mother takes care of the children and the household.
[75] Several prominent fronts led to and continue to push the development of feminism; including paid and unpaid labor and expectations of gender roles(Thompson).
The Role of Patriarchy in Feminism With men being expected to bring home an income to support a family and the entire household, the strain of the increasing cost of living makes that ideal impractical.
The wage gap issues and traditional roles as unpaid laborers for the family significantly drive the growth of feminism in modern social settings.
[35] Feminist historian Gerda Lerner believes that male control over women's sexuality and reproductive functions is a fundamental cause and result of patriarchy.
[78] According to Hartmann, the term patriarchy redirects the focus of oppression from the labour division to a moral and political responsibility liable directly to men as a gender.
German argued for a need to redefine the origins and sources of the patriarchy, describing the mainstream theories as providing "little understanding of how women's oppression and the nature of the family have changed historically.
[82] Jaggar, Young, and Hartmann are among the feminist theorists who argue that the system of patriarchy should be completely overturned, especially the heteropatriarchal family, which they see as a necessary component of female oppression.
Through this basis, "the existence of a sexual division of labor in primitive societies is a starting point as much for purely social accounts of the origins of patriarchy as for biological.
She lists six ways it may have emerged:[90][further explanation needed] While the term patriarchy often refers to male domination generally, another interpretation sees it as literally "rule of the father".
[101] The triangular relationship of a father, a mother and an inheriting eldest son frequently form the dynamic and emotional narratives of popular culture and are enacted performatively in rituals of courtship and marriage.
[109][110][111] Arguing from this standpoint, radical feminist Shulamith Firestone wrote in her 1970 The Dialectic of Sex: Marx was on to something more profound than he knew when he observed that the family contained within itself in embryo all the antagonisms that later develop on a wide scale within the society and the state.
For unless revolution uproots the basic social organisation, the biological family – the vinculum through which the psychology of power can always be smuggled – the tapeworm of exploitation will never be annihilated.
[113] Key priorities include enhancing public services and creating gender-responsive social protection systems that specifically benefit women and girls in poverty.
Consequently, a patriarchal society creates an inherently unsafe and harmful environment for non-conforming women and those who do not adhere to rigid societal norms of gender and sexuality.
Research has shown that "social media use may be linked to adverse mental health effects, such as suicidal thoughts, feelings of loneliness, and reduced empathy".
[114] For instance, social media platforms often feature curated images that promote unrealistic body standards or lifestyles, leading to feelings of comparison, jealousy, and anxiety among users.
