Everything about Patrimonalism totally explained
Patriarchy is the structuring of
society on the basis of
family units, where fathers have primary
responsibility for the welfare of, hence authority over, their families. The concept of
patriarchy is often used, by extension (in
anthropology and
feminism, for example), to refer to the expectation that
men take primary responsibility for the welfare of the
community as a whole, acting as representatives via
public office.
The feminine form of
patriarchy is
matriarchy, but there are no known examples of matriarchies from any point in history.
Encyclopædia Britannica says it's a "
hypothetical social system". The Britannica article goes on to note, "The view of matriarchy as constituting a stage of cultural development is now generally discredited. Furthermore, the consensus among modern anthropologists and sociologists is that a strictly matriarchal society never existed."
The anthropologist
Margaret Mead said, "All the claims so glibly made about societies ruled by women are nonsense. We have no reason to believe that they ever existed. ... men everywhere have been in charge of running the show. ... men have been the leaders in public affairs and the final authorities at home." For
moral comment on this see
feminist criticism below; for a
scientific explanation of why, see
biology of gender below.
Etymology
The word
patriarchy comes from two
Greek words —
patēr (πατήρ, father) and
archē (αρχή, rule). In Greek, the
genitive form of
patēr is
patr-os,
which shows the
root form patr, explaining why the word is spelled
patr-iarchy.
The basic meaning of the Greek word
archē is actually "beginning" (hence
arche-ology or
men-arche)
— the first words of
Genesis in Greek (see
Septuagint) are
En archē ("In the beginning").
However,
archē is also used
metaphorically to refer to ruling, because rulers are perceived to "start" things,
for example
hier-archy and
an-archy.
Related words
A
patriarch is a man who has great influence on his family or society. Many historical societies claimed descent from one great man. For example, the
Romans believed they were descended from
Romulus who founded
Rome. The traditional founder of
Athens is Erectheus, and of
Sparta Lacedæmon. Similarly, the
Jewish tradition in the
Torah says
Jews are descended from
Abraham through
Isaac. Both the Torah and
Qur'an say
Arabs are descended from Abraham through
Ishmael, Abraham's first son, Isaac's half-brother. Traditional founders are often called patriarchs. The feminine form of
patriarch is
matriarch, for example see
Matriarchs (Bible).
Patriarch is also a name for the most senior leaders of
Eastern Christianity, roughly comparable to the western
arch-bishop (
archē as above).
The adjective for
patriarchy is
patriarchal; and
patriarchalism, or more commonly
paternalism, refer to the practice or defence of patriarchy.
Patron is a related word used generically (that is, it isn't
gender or
sex specific). Women and men who provide financial support to activities within a community can be termed
patrons. The verb form
patronize can be used positively, to describe the activity of patrons, or negatively, to describe adopting a superior attitude. If the superior attitude is adopted by a man, he can be called
paternalistic.
Related customs
Patrimonalism uses the Greek word
monos (μόνος, sole) to describe the view of a
state as the extended household of a
mon-arch (sole ruler,
archē as above) or
deity. There are records of patrimonalism almost as far back as the earliest
writing itself (about 5000 years ago). This is probably because patrimonalism directly facilitated the invention of writing — the first hereditary monarchs gained so much wealth as to need to keep
accounts, and enough to pay those
accountants. The earliest records of patrimonalism come from
Ancient Near Eastern legal documents, the best known being the
Code of Hammurabi and the Torah. Some aspects of patrimonalism can still be found in the few remaining
monarchies in the world today, for example,
British law concerning
real estate (see
Crown lands), especially in
Australia. For more detail regarding patrimonalism see
Traditional authority.
Some social customs reflect what is termed
patrilineality or
patrilocality.
Patrilineal describes customs where family responsibilities and assets pass from father to son. By contrast, contemporary Judaism considers people to be
Jewish if their mothers were Jewish, which makes this aspect of contemporary Judaism
matrilineal. Biblical Judaism is, however, a classical example of a patrilineal society.
Matrilineal is a particularly useful term in
genetics, where some genetic features are more or less passed via the maternal line, notably
mitochondrial DNA and severe
X-linked genetic conditions. An X
chromosome from the mother is always passed to offspring, male and female. However, daughters don't receive a
Y chromosome, and sons don't receive an
X chromosome from their fathers (see
sex-determination system,
heredity and
genetic genealogy).
Patrilocal describes the custom of
brides relocating to the geographic community of the husband and his father's family. In a
matrilocal society, a husband will relocate to the home community of his wife and her mother (see also
marriage). Matrilocality can substantially increase the social influence of women in a culture, however, given that tribal and family leaders are still men in all known matrilocal societies, matrilocality isn't equivalent to matriarchy, see main entry
patriarchy (anthropology).
By contrast with these other customs, patriarchy can be seen to be distinctly about gender and the
nuclear family, gender and public office, and about female-male relationships in general.
Benefits of patriarchy
Patriarchy is advanced as being advantageous for human
evolution and social organization on many grounds, crossing several
disciplines. Although
biology may explain its existence (see below), arguments for its social
utility have been made since ancient times. The main lines of argument are either
pragmatic—namely, the
reproductive advantages of male-as-provider—or
ethical—that any perceived male authority is
contingent upon underlying perceptions of
duty of care.
Feminist criticism
Most forms of feminism have challenged patriarchy as a social system that's adopted uncritically, due to millennia of human experience where male physical strength was the ultimate way of settling social conflicts – from
war to
disciplining children. John Stuart Mill wrote, "In early times, the great majority of the male sex were slaves, as well as the whole of the female. And many ages elapsed ... before any thinker was bold enough to question the rightfulness, and the absolute necessity, either of the one slavery or of the other."
In
feminist theory, the opposite of feminism isn't
masculism but patriarchy. It isn't surprising, therefore, that the word
patriarchy has a range of additional, negative associations when used in the context of feminist theory, where it's sometimes capitalized and used with the definite article (
the Patriarchy), likely best understood as a form of collective
personification (compare "blame it on the Government" to "blame it on the Patriarchy"). The use of the word
patriarchy in
feminist literature has become so loaded with emotive associations that some writers prefer to use an approximate
synonym, the more objective and technical
androcentric (also from Greek –
anēr, genitive
andros, meaning man).
Fredrika Scarth (a feminist) reads Simone de Beauvoir's
The Second Sex to be saying, "Neither men nor women live their bodies authentically under patriarchy."
Mary Daly wrote, "Males and males only are the originators, planners, controllers, and legitimators of patriarchy." Carole Pateman, another feminist, writes, "The patriarchal construction of the difference between masculinity and femininity is the political difference between freedom and subjection."
Most feminists don't propose to replace patriarchy with matriarchy, rather they argue for
equality (though some have argued for
separation). However,
Ronald Dworkin has argued that equality is a difficult idea. It is particularly hard to work out what equality means when it comes to gender, because there are real differences between men and women (see
Sexual dimorphism and
Gender differences). Recent feminist writers speak of "feminisms of diversity", that seek to reconcile older debates between
equality feminisms and
difference feminisms. For instance, Judith Squires writes, "The whole conceptual force of 'equality' rests on the assumption of differences, which should in some respect be valued equally."
For a leading feminist who writes against patriarchy see
Marilyn French; and for one who is more sympathetic see
Christina Hoff Sommers.
In summary, recent feminist writers have shown a tendency to admit
misandry among some members of the movement, and acknowledge real differences in men and women that make diversity a more meaningful aim than
reductionistic equality (for example Judith Squires above).
Decades of
legislation and
affirmative action have not yet changed the fact that
western culture is male dominated, and that it remains patriarchal, although women can vote in most countries of the world, and they outnumber men in
higher education in many countries .
However,
heads of state,
cabinet ministers and the top
executives of major
companies are still mostly men (see
glass ceiling). Also, women's average
income is still significantly
lower than men's average income. Sally Haslanger claims women are still marginalized within academic
philosophy departments.
Steven Goldberg
To date, feminists have failed to achieve many of their goals (for example, those related to executive positions and average income, see
above). This was predicted in 1973 (the early days of
second wave feminist activism) by
Steven Goldberg (born 1941).
Goldberg was chairman of the department of sociology at
City College of New York, and has written two books on patriarchy. In the second he wrote:
In Goldberg's first book, he seeks an explanation for three specific aspects of male dominance behaviour in human societies. Patriarchy is the first of these. He also considers the phenomenon of male
status seeking, which he calls "male attainment". He is influenced by Margaret Mead in identifying this phenomenon. She says, "Men may cook, or weave or dress dolls or hunt hummingbirds, but if such activities are appropriate behavior for men, then the whole society, men and women alike, votes them as important. When the same occupations are performed by women, they're regarded as less important." Finally, he considers the way men seem to dominate in one-to-one relationships with women. Marriage is just one example of such relationships. Goldberg comments, "A woman’s feeling that she must get around a man is the hallmark of male dominance."
Goldberg proposes the
hypothesis that the statistical averages of all these forms of behaviour are partly explained by the
necessary (but not sufficient) condition of
neuroendocrinological effects – namely,
testosterone. The title of his first book makes his hypothesis very clear, it was called
The Inevitability of Patriarchy: Why the Biological Difference between Men and Women always Produces Male Domination. At the time he wrote (1973), there were only very limited results from
biological researchers to support his hypothesis. The situation has changed a lot since then.
For other writers who make similar points to Goldberg see
Steven Pinker and
Donald Brown in the
literature below.
For current feminists and writers with considerably more biological knowledge than Goldberg, who accept his hypothesis, but consider issues beyond the biological, see
Helena Cronin and
Louann Brizendine.
Biology of gender
biology of gender is scientific analysis of the physical basis for behavioural differences between men and women. It is more specific than
sexual dimorphism, which covers physical and behavioural differences between males and females of any sexually reproducing species, or
sexual differentiation, where physical and behavioural differences between men and women are described. Biological research of
gender has explored such areas as:
intersex physicalities,
gender identity,
gender roles and
sexual orientation.
Research in this area is generally motivated by the search for causes of
diseases in human beings, and ways of treating or preventing those diseases; it's thought that men and women might require different kinds of treatment for certain diseases. The results are relevant to gender issues, but that isn't their direct concern.
It has long been known that there are
correlations between the biological sex of
animals and their
behaviour.
The late twentieth century saw an explosion in technology capable of aiding sex research.
John Money and
Milton Diamond made great progress towards understanding the formation of
gender identity in
humans. Extensive advances were also made in understanding sexual dimorphism in other animals. For example, there were studies on the effects of
sex hormones on rats. In the early twenty first century, discoveries were made concerning
genetically programmed sexual dimorphism in rat brains, prior even to the influence of hormones on
development.
Some specific relevant
results are as follows. The brains of many animals are
significantly different for
females and
males of the
species. Both
genes and
hormones affect the formation of many animal brains before "
birth" (or
hatching), and also behaviour of adult individuals. Hormones significantly affect human brain formation, and also brain development at puberty. Both kinds of brain difference affect male and female behaviour.
Brain differences also have a statistically measurable effect on an array of
abilities. In particular, on average, women are more capable in nearly everything to do with
sensory processing. On the other hand, male brains seem to be "pushed" towards extremes of low ability or high ability in various forms of mental abstraction, especially those related to space and logic. This means the average scores of young women and men in mathematics, for example, will be close, but there will be more men than women in the very low scores and in the very high scores (see the diagram at the right for an illustration). Hormones have also been linked with male
aggression.
Sarah Blaffer Hrdy (confirming Goldberg above) notes observed male aggression would predict a tendency towards the patriarchy that has also been observed..
For an illustrated description of clear differences between female and male brain response to pain see
Laura Stanton and Brenna Maloney, 'The Perception of Pain', Washington Post (19 December 2006).
Alexandra M. Lopes and others recently published that:
Appendix
Patriarchies in dispute
The table shows most societies that have been claimed at one time or another to be matriarchal. In every case the ethnographers report that the societies were patriarchal not matriarchal, even before changes brought by contact with western culture. However, some of the societies are matrilineal or matrilocal.
Note: "separate" in the marriage column, refers to the practice of husbands and wives living in separate locations, often informally called "walking marriages". See the articles for the specific cultures that practice this for further description.
Table
List
Further Information
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