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Patriarchy refers to the structuring of the society basing on family units, whereby the father is primarily responsible for the welfare of the family. Often, the term is further applied to describe the expectation that the male gender in a community take the main responsibility for its welfare. Simply, patriarchy is the control by men. It is a system that is characterized by male dominance, identity and control. According to Daly (1978, p. 29) only men are the “originator, planners, controllers, and legitimators of patriarchy”.
Patriarchy is widely practiced in the society. Our society is basically patriarchal. In this regard, we equate the powerful positions with the male gender; for instance, the heads of states and organizations are expected to be male on top of the fact that most. Goldberg (1973) argued that all the known societies have embraced patriarchies. Moreover, in history, men have been known to take the role of leading the society such that patriarchy has gained strong roots. Furthermore, factors such as religion and cultural beliefs have promoted patriarchy in the society. Christianity teachings insist that women should be docile to men. In family traditions, for instance, the women adopt the names of their husbands while children are also named with the last name of their father. In addition, most of the homes in our society take the form where the man is the financial supporter of the family.
Patriarch is a system of power where the males dominate the females. It is characterized by complex processes including upbringing, gender division of labor, expectations of certain behavior that are all connected to other systems of power (Sharp, 1980, p.213). According to sharp (1980, p. 218) rulers and subjects must be present in order to talk about power; furthermore, the group that is ruled must be obedient for the system of power to work. Therefore, although it is not suitable to equate the position of the men and female in a family set up as rulers and subjects, for patriarchy to function there must be a central point of power and authority. In this regard, the father represents the source of authority and power.
Some feminism arguments have tried to define patriarchy with the women as the central point of power and authority. A system that is referred to as matriarchy has essentially existed empirically with no given example at any time in history (Bamberger, 1974, p. 264). Moreover, it is a hypothetical system that has been advocated for by feminists in fight for gender equality (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2007). However, in contemporary society women have taken the central position in family matters.
Patriarchy is still deep rooted in contemporary families. Although, the society has changed to include women in important roles associated with power and authority such as decision making, patriarchy is still rife. The expectation of the family and the society as whole is that the men take the lead in family affairs. In most cases, the family duties and activities are defined within gender boundaries where women take more feminine jobs as men do masculine ones. Moreover, the biological capabilities and differences between men and women have divided the responsibilities of women and men accordingly. Again, much of the society has not completely eliminated the notion that the women are responsible for the domestic activities in a family set. What is more, religion which is still central to many societies, defines the father as the head of the family.
References
- Bamberger, Joan. The Myth of Matriarchy: Why Men Rule in Primitive Society, Stanford University Press, California. 1974. 263-280.
- Daly, Mary. The Metaethics of Radical Feminism, Beacon Press, Boston. 1978. 29.
- Encyclopedia Britannica, Matriarchy, 2007
- Goldberg, Steven. The Inevitability of Patriarchy, William Morrow & Company, 1973
- Sharp, Gene. Social Power and Political Freedom. Porter Sargent, Boston. 1980
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