Patriarchy : A Patriarchal Society

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

Women have played important roles throughout history. They have been responsible for the rise and fall of nations, sustaining families, and have been the focal point of worship in ancient religions. Moving forward in history, women's roles have continually changed. Their status as matriarchs changed as the more advanced ancient civilizations rose. The patriarchal societies of ancient Greece and Rome viewed women differently from some societies of past eras. The study of the economic and political status of women, their rights, and their contributions to both these ancient societies reveals how views change throughout history.

Dunn, Molly. “It is NOT a needle in a haystack: Unearthing Patriarchy in a Rural Landscape.”

What if women ruled the world? The question does not seem so strange today as it may have back in 2500 B.C.E., an age when people tell stories of the Great King of Uruk--Gilgamesh. Although the story of “Gilgamesh” revolves around themes of masculinity and brotherhood--with its male prerogative, its composers develop several strong female characters which suggest women have great influence in a male-dominated, Mesopotamian society.

Social classes and hierarchies, especially patriarchy, is another common pattern in ancient civilizations. Social classes first began in Mesopotamia and Egypt when farmers who had surpluses got wealthier and more powerful then other people. As cities developed into a more urban society, social hierarchies began to appear. Mesopotamia and Egypt both had similar hierarchies. The ruling class was at the top, this consisted of royal families and wealthy landowners. Below the ruling class were merchants and craftsmen, and below them were slaves and day laborers. Patriarchy is another common pattern in these two civilizations. As societies became more urban, men became more dominant over women in all areas of society. The patriarchy in Mesopotamia and Egypt was mild at first compared to other societies, but still drastically affected a woman’s life. In Mesopotamia, females held high positions in the ruling class as priestesses, queen consorts, and even queens. A woman could only become queen though through family extensions. In Egypt, women in the ruling class also held high positions in society and were considered equal to their male counterparts. This patriarchal society is best seen in the Code of Hammurabi, law 142 states “If a women hates her husband so much that she says “You may not

In today’s society, we as women often take for granted the rights, freedoms, and equality we share with men that women in the ancient world were not granted. As all civilisations in the ancient world exercised different treatment towards, this essay will illustrate a few comparisons in the status of women during ancient Egypt with women during ancient Rome. Academic sources will be relied on to provide the necessary actualities when one considers ancient civilizations. The legal status of women in society, the domestic atmospheres and roles that each unique region’s women held, and the possible occupations available to these women, will be discussed.

Patriarchal structures that have played a profound role in shaping the economy throughout history remain systemic to the organisation of today’s economic capitalism. Maria Mies’ work, Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale, looks at the role of the patriarchy in maintaining social relations of production that is conducive to capitalistic ideals. This notion remains relevant and potent in today’s society. Remnants of patriarchal relations fundamentally enable the extent of class, exploitation, agency and power that drives this capitalist economy. While man-woman relations are conducive the process of capital accumulation, they are not mutually indispensible. That is, there is no infinite or explicit relationship between labour-wage gender inequality under capitalism. However, it is the inability to disaffirm the prevalence of gendered norms that define women’s place in society enables the patriarchy to work in favour of capitalism and vice versa. The interdependence between the patriarchy and the mode of production will be analysed in this essay through three principle premises. The starting point will look at the social organisation of hierarchical sexual relations based on biological natures. This will be the foundational and underlying basis in which the patriarchy subliminally persists and reaffirms itself to influence capitalist societies. Further on, it will look at the ways in which male-female relations that have persisted from precapitalist times continue to

The language men use to create women as weak, sexual objects is another way the metanarrative of patriarchy is revealed and challenged. For instance, in Duffy’s Delilah, Samson tells her that he “cannot be gentle, or loving, or tender.” This use of listing emphasises Samson’s perceived ability to control Delilah as he reinforces her want to be there for him and to ‘help him’, “I was sure - that he wanted to change”, “I was there.” and Samson's demand “Teach me” gives Delilah purpose as she believes she is the one who can help Samson “change”. Although, perhaps it is Samson cleverly crafting Delilah into this ‘weak, sexual object’ for his use so that he can “[fuck her again] - until he was sore”. The idea that Samson is creating Delilah for

patriarchy is, that the man in this story played a big role in the how things worked in

During the 18th and 19th century, patriarchy has been responsible for designing women’s role in society. Throughout history, men have been deemed as superior while women have been regarded as inferior. Society has this ideology that women are the sole laborers of a household; they were not granted the same privileges as men. In addition, women have been negatively affected by stereotyping. Women have been portrayed on television as being submissive to men. The depiction of women on television portrays the implications of a societal view of women. From a man's perspective, an ideal woman is a housewife who does all the household duties herself. However, over the years, studies have shown that gender roles have slowly advanced. Women began

When comparing the roles of women and men from the earliest ages in humanity, the roles of men has remained relatively the same for generations, while women’s roles have undoubtedly undergone tremendous reforms. The traditional roles of women could be exhibited as early as the Paleolithic age, in the era of hunter-gatherers where women were to stay near their dwellings and gather crops while the men were to go out and hunt animals to feed the family. This notion developed into the traditional roles of men being the protectors and breadwinners of the family and women being the mothers and caretakers which were known up until the mid-1900s, when this outlook began to shift. Correspondingly, the man in the family was also expected to be the head of the household and make all major decisions and handling finances and things as such. This was prevalent in a majority of places globally, with some cultural exceptions such as the Touareg tribe of the Sahara desert. Unlike most Western societies, the Touaregs believed the woman was to be the dominant partner in marriages and in the family, controlled the finances and property, and even allowed women to have multiple partners as well (Patel). Of course, this was unheard of in the West, where female sexuality was seen as taboo at the time and was viewed as a threat to the patriarchal system that was traditionally adorned. Comparatively, the perception of female intelligence prior to the 20th century has been undermined, as women’s

The patriarchy does not exist—in 21st Century America. As defined by Merriam-Webster, patriarchy is “[any] social organization marked by supremacy of…men”. From the depths of a bygone patriarchal society, feminist jurisprudence emerged in an attempt to rectify the harms that resulted from such a system. Modern feminist jurisprudence theorists, such as Patricia Smith, have redefined patriarchy to be inclusive of gender identity (masculinity and femininity), yet the original implication of patriarchy relied on gender roles and a fixed gender binary. These theorists have argued that the patriarchy harms both men and women, as feminine men are ostracized for not fulfilling the role of an alpha male—a male who tends to be hyper-masculine. This belief that femininity and masculinity must align to the biological sex of an individual has been acknowledged by the term, “heteronormativity.” Despite the distinct meanings of “patriarchy” and “heteronormativity,” feminists have fought to end the inequality of all individuals, regardless of their gender identity.

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

The purpose of this paper is to explore patriarchal values that reinforce violence towards women in intimate partner relationships. This paper argues that patriarchy and the social construction of masculinity reproduce male violence against women. The following sub-issues that that will be discussed are patriarchy, capitalism, the religion of Islam, and the construction of masculinity and femininity. All the sub-issues encompass patriarchy values which allows inmate partner violence.

“Patriarchy is a kind of society organized around certain kinds of social relationship, and ideas. As individuals, we participate in it. Paradoxically, our participation both shapes our lives and gives us the opportunity to be part of changing or perpetuating it.” (Johnson 73) Patriarchy is a way of live, we already participate in it and be affected by it without aware.