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On the Origin and Nature of Patriarchy (1)
22-Feb-2011
What is Patriarchy
Patriarchy (from Greek: patria meaning father and archy meaning rule), in its narrow sense, means the absolute legal and economic rule of eldest males or fathers as heads of families, over their wives, children, other dependents, including slaves, as well as property.
In its broader sense, patriarchy defines the sociological condition where male members of a society tend to predominate in positions of power; the more powerful the position, the more likely it is that a male will hold it. It is usually marked by the subordination of women, children, and those whose genders or bodies defy traditional man / woman categorization. In other words, patriarchy is a hegemonic gender order imposed through institutional, collective and individual behaviours. It is an embodied set of beliefs about the ‘'natural’' gender order, regularly backed up by notions of biological or divine determinism, which often operates through a collective refusal to observe the effects of gender on social relations and power. One clear effect of this has been a refusal, until recently, to acknowledge the full extent of physical and sexual violence committed against women by heterosexual men.
Patriarchy is organized around an obsession with control. Men are elevated in the social structure because of their actual or presumed ability to exert control, whether rationally or through violence or the threat of violence. Women are devalued for their supposed lack of control and assumed to need men's supervision or protection.
Patriarchal social structures are male identified: aspects of society and personal attributes that are highly valued are associated with men, while attributes and social activities associated with women are devalued. There is a sense of threat to the social structure of patriarchies when these gendered associations are destabilised - and the response in patriarchy is to increase the level of control over women (as well as groups who are devalued by virtue of race, ethnicity, sexuality, or class.)
An inherent part of patriarchy is the separation of the private sphere of family and the public sphere of economy, laws and politics. This division between the two spheres is gendered. Women are associated with the private sphere, and men with the public one. However, men dominate both spheres. In the private sphere of family, women do the procreative work of carrying children and giving birth to them, who take their father’s name, and the unpaid reproductive housework of cooking and cleaning that reproduces the husband’s work force and helps bringing up his children for future economic activities.
Patrilineal system of lineage and patrilocal family residence are inherent elements of patriarchy. In patrilineal social system, one belongs to one's father's lineage and takes his name or title, and the inheritance of property passes through the male line. In patrilocal system of residence (also called virilocal residence), a married couple resides with or near the husband's parents. It defines a locus of control coming from the father's geographic / cultural community.
In countries such as Islamic Iran and Saudi Arabia, patriarchy is distinctly visible. In the Western nations where legal equality of women and men has been established, the deep psychological and cultural roots of patriarchy survive as a belief system in the minds of many women and men. In these societies, male domination remains the underlying social structure.
Patriarchy has been the template of the authoritarian, elitist forms of social organization and governance that have tolerated, sanctioned or committed such systematic and perpetual human rights violations as sexism, racism, exploitation and oppression, and other such flagrant affront to human dignity. As Marilyn French puts it, patriarchy is a system that values power over life, control over pleasure, and dominance over happiness.
Brown, Robert. 1991. Human Universals, Temple University Press, Philadelphia, PA.
French, Marilyn. 1985. Beyond Power: On Women, Men and Morals, Ballantine Books, New York, N.Y.
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interesting blog
by humanbeing on Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:50 PM PSTi am curious about several complexities which i'm sure you will address in future installments:
1. the role of women as accomplices in perpetuating patriarchal patterns in society, especially after 'modernization' and 'globalization' and 'womens' liberation'.
2. the fuzzy distinction between patriarchal societies like islamic iran and closet patriarchy in 'enlightened' 'liberal' societies (western europe, north america -- not including the deep south, of course!).
3. a case study of a society which underwent a successful de-patriarchization which was not just superficial trappings like dress code etc., and what pointers we can get from them.
Mash Ghasem
by Azadeh Azad on Wed Feb 23, 2011 02:19 PM PSTThanks for your feedback.
Regarding Patriarchy being ''a result of men accumulating wealth as opposed to the entire community before that. So, in a very simplified abstract sense patriarchy as such cannot exist without private property.'' I do believe that there is a relation between patriarchy and private property, but not the way Marxism views it. I am actually critical of Marxism's, i.e., Engels's, contention that private property is the basis of Patriarchy.
In my theory, it is the opposite that is true. It is the discovery of biological paternity and men's motivation to create social paternity that led to the accumulation of wealth and private property following their motivation to invent better technological means of production in order to accumulate wealth, buy women and *become fathers* of the children who previously ''belonged'' to women and their matrilineal clans.
I'm getting ahead of myself, here. If my argument sounds convoluted or incomprehensible, it's because we have not looked at the process of creation of social paternity and patriarchy step-by-step, yet.
Stay tuned.
Azadeh
I love
by Raoul1955 on Wed Feb 23, 2011 01:29 PM PSTThe stats presented by Esfand Aashena listing a 120% which is mathematically impossible, not to mention it being physically nonsensical, to 140% by Mash Ghasem. And no, I am not going to ask for sources this time. LOL.
Azadeh khanom thanks for thoughful observations on a timely
by Mash Ghasem on Wed Feb 23, 2011 12:39 PM PSTtopic. Although patrirchy in Iran has a permenancy all its own. As Esfand says, in Iran instead of 100% we probably have 140% patriarchy.So, in a sense its hopeless, but then again we have new genrations and with younger people there is an opportunity for change.
I also had a short point on what Anahid reffered to: this issue of control by men.
Me thinks this control is predicated on possession, possession of a specific type: private property. As Engels, based on Shuster's works, argues: Patrirachy as such was a result of men accumulating wealth as opposed to the entire community before that. So, in a very simplified abstract sense patrirachy as such can not exist without private property. But that's propely getting ahead of Part One. And thanks for your daily interventions.
Esfand & vildemose
by Azadeh Azad on Wed Feb 23, 2011 11:20 AM PSTEsfand: LOL! I'll try to make the sequels as short as this one.
vildemose: Thank you :-). And I have a question: is my response to Anahid's valid comment persuasive to you? Thanks.
Cheers,
Azadeh
Azadeh jan: Yummy.....thank
by vildemose on Wed Feb 23, 2011 07:03 AM PSTAzadeh jan: Yummy.....thank you. I look forward to the rest.
P.s.Anahid: Excellent observations. Critical analysis at its best. thanks you.
Azadeh jaan an intresting topic and read but we're drowning!
by Esfand Aashena on Wed Feb 23, 2011 06:01 AM PSTAs we say in Farsi once the water pass our heads whether one vajab or ten vajab (hand length)! The Iranian society is now 100%, probably 120% Patriarchy!
What we need is an extra-Patriarchy attitude and punishment against those who institutionalized Patriarchy in Iran since 1979 so that maybe we can get out of this mess! We don't need academic definitions just a kick in the butt, better yet a bang on the head so we can get it out of heads!
Interesting read none-the-less and I'll follow the sequels if they're short and to the point like this one!
Everything is sacred
Thanks Azadeh jan for your comment addressed to me
by Anahid Hojjati on Tue Feb 22, 2011 08:44 PM PSTDear Azadeh, thanks for your response to my two points. Great blog.
Raoul
by Azadeh Azad on Tue Feb 22, 2011 03:07 PM PSTYou're welcome :-)
Cheers,
Azadeh
To Anahid
by Azadeh Azad on Tue Feb 22, 2011 08:48 PM PSTDear Anahid,
Thank you for your interest and feedbck.
This article is about the basic meaning of social systems such as patriarchal family and the nature of heterosexual male-female relationship within it – which extends to the public sphere of workplace and politics, as well. The violence of heterosexual men against women, children, gay people is part of the *nature* of patriarchy, while violence of women towards their children and sometimes their husbands as well as violence of gay men towards women are *by-products* (socialisation, acculturations, reactions or imitations) of the heterosexual male violence against their female family members and other women.
An example of this distinction would be the following: when we define a capitalist system and its components, structures and functions, we do not mix the exploitation of the global industrial workers’ work force by the multinational capitalists, which is the basis of the capitalist system of our day, with the exploitation of apprentice shopkeepers by their bosses. Both are exploitations, but of totally different nature, playing different functions to maintain the class system. The same applies to the patrilocal system of residence (also called Patrilocality or viriloclity.) This system is an inherent component of patriarchy. However, in real life, the patrilocal system intersects with others social systems and cultural components of a specific society and weaves into them, resulting in cases or tendencies that do not follow the typical patrilocal tradition.
No definition of a social system is absolute when applied to a specific context. We have one definition of a typical capitalist system or one definition of a typical patriarchal system, but we experience or observe different varieties of them, due to the fact that *other* social systems and *cultural tendencies* are at play in any given society.
Once I finish with sketching the historical roots of patriarchal system, I can write more about the different aspects of male-female relationships in today's societies.
Cheers,
Azadeh
Ps. please do not respond to my comment but clicking on the ''reply'' button. I might have to make changes in it. Thanks you.
Azadeh
by Raoul1955 on Tue Feb 22, 2011 01:56 PM PSTThanks for posting. I found it informative. :-)
Cheers
Dear Azadeh, great blog, but I disagree about two points
by Anahid Hojjati on Tue Feb 22, 2011 12:34 PM PSTAzadeh jan, I enjoyed reading your blog and learned from it. However, couple of points that I do not agree with:
1. You wrote:"One clear effect of this has been a refusal, until recently, to acknowledge the full extent of physical and sexual violence committed against women by heterosexual men.
Patriarchy is organized around an obsession with control. Men are elevated in the social structure because of their actual or presumed ability to exert control, whether rationally or through violence or the threat of violence. Women are devalued for their supposed lack of control and assumed to need men's supervision or protection. " (end of quote)
I believe it is wrong to think that physical and sexual violence are committed against women only by heterosexual men. In your next sentence, you wrote that"Patriarchy is organized around an obsession with control". Therefore, you admitted yourself the importance of control, so my belief is that a gay man can also engage in controlling women.
2. My second disagreement is where you wrote:"In patrilocal system of residence (also called virilocal residence), a married couple resides with or near the husband's parents. It defines a locus of control coming from the father's geographic / cultural community. " This is not an absolute reality. In Iran, for decades, at least in families of middle class and above, many families live closer to woman's parents. That has been my observation and how it was in my extended circle of family and friends, and it has been going on for several decades. Maybe ours is unusual but I doubt it.
Azadeh jan, thanks again for your valuable blog and I am looking forward to reading the following ones in this series.