Patriarchy and Female Subordination

INTRODUCTION

The main impediment to women's development and advancement is patriarchy. Regardless of

the degree of dominance, the basic fundamentals remain the same: men are in charge. It's
possible that the nature of this control will vary. In order to work for women's development in
a methodical fashion, it is vital to comprehend the system that maintains women controlled
and submissive, as well as to unravel its workings. Patriarchy creates barriers for women to
advance in society in the modern world, where women advance based on their merit. Because
women's lower or secondary status is due to patriarchal structures and social connections.
Men are given overwhelming primacy in patriarchal society, which inhibits women's human
rights to some extent. Both in the public and private arenas, patriarchy refers to male
dominance. Feminists use the phrase "patriarchy" to define the power relationship between
men and women, as well as to investigate the core reason of women's subjugation. Modern
civilization is the outcome of women and men working together. Without any of the
assistance of women, no nation can prosper. Women are now seen in positions of authority.
There are prime ministers and queens who wield legal or virtual power, and women generally
have reaped benefits in varying degrees. The issue of gender roles, or the collection of social
and behavioural norms that are regarded socially suitable for individuals of a certain sex, is
strongly tied to the origins of patriarchy. Many studies have been conducted to determine
why women are expected to fulfil a domestic role while men are encouraged to seek
professional fulfilment outside of the home. This division of labour is often projected onto a
social hierarchy in which males' liberty to leave the house and assumed authority over
women are viewed as superior and domineering.

The concept of Patriarchy

The term ‘patriarchy' literally means ‘father's rule,' and it was initially used to designate a
certain form of ‘male-dominated family,' namely the patriarch's huge home, which comprised
women, slaves, children, and junior men and domestic employees, all under the command of
this dominant male. It is now more broadly used “to refer to male dominance, to power
interactions in which men control women, and to describe a system wherein women are kept
submissive in a variety of ways.” In both the public and private arenas, patriarchy refers to
male dominance. The term "patriarchy" is commonly used by feminists to describe the male-
female power dynamic. As a result, patriarchy is more than a name; feminists utilise it as an
idea, and like other notions, it is a tool for understanding women's reality. Various thinkers
describe patriarchy in various ways. Mitchell, a feminist psychologist, defines patriarchy as
"kinship systems in which men trade women" (Mitchell 1971:24). “Patriarchy is a system of
social structures and practises in which men rule, oppress, and exploit women,” writes Walby
(Walby 1990:20). She explains patriarchy as a mechanism to help us reject biological
determinism (the belief that men and women are biologically different and hence given
separate duties) and “the assumption that every individual male is constantly in a superior
role and every woman in a subservient one” (Ibid). As a result, patriarchy refers to the system
of male supremacy that has been institutionalised. As a result, patriarchy can be properly
defined as a series of materially based social interactions between men and women that
develop or foster independence and unity among men, allowing them to dominate women
(Jagger and Rosenberg 1984). Patriarchal society overstates biological distinctions between
women and men, guaranteeing that men constantly play the dominating, masculine duties and
women play the inferior, feminine roles. “Men are frequently able to acquire the apparent
agreement of the very women they oppress,” says the author. They do it "via institutions like
the family, the church and  the academy each of which explains and promotes women's
subjugation to men" (Millett 1977:35). Power, domination, hierarchy, and competitiveness
are all hallmarks of the patriarchal system. As a result, patriarchy is a set of societal
institutions and practises in which men exploit, dominate, oppress women.

Women’s Subordination

Patriarchy, which assumes that men are naturally superior to women, shamelessly maintains
women's dependency on and subordination to men in all aspects of life. As a result, men have
complete control over all power and authority within the home, society, and state. As a result
of patriarchy, women have been denied legal rights and opportunity. Patriarchal ideals limit
women's mobility and deny them control over their own bodies and possessions. “Something
else is less significant than the other thing,” says subordination (Cobuild 2010:1559).
“Subordination” denotes “having less authority than someone else in a group or
organisation,” as per Advanced Learners Dictionary (Hornby 2003:1296). The word
"women's subordination" alludes to women's lower status, such as their absence of
availability to resources and decision-making, as well as patriarchal dominance in most
civilizations. As a result, women's subordination refers to their lesser status in comparison to
men. Women's subordination is exacerbated by their feelings of discrimination,
powerlessness, low self confidence and   self-esteem. As a result, women's subordination
refers to a scenario in which men have a dominant position over women. Women's
subordination is a key component of all relational dominance structures, but feminists pick
diverse sites and causes for subordination. Women are relegated to the status of the second
sex and hence subordinated, according to Simone de Beauvoir (Beauvior 1974). Under
patriarchal dominance, women, according to Kate Millet's thesis of subjugation, are a
dependent sex class (Millet 1977). Patriarchy is a social system in which women are confined
in various forms of subordination. Discrimination, disdain, oppression, insult,
exploitation, control and violence are all types of subordination that we face on a daily basis,
regardless of our social class. For example, a few instances are provided to exemplify a
certain type of prejudice and a specific component of patriarchy.
Origins of patriarchy

Traditionalists think that men are born to rule and women are destined to be subordinate
when it comes to the presence and origins of patriarchy. They think that this hierarchy has
often happened and will exist long, and that, like other natural laws, it cannot be altered.
Others contradict these ideas, claiming that patriarchy is not natural, but rather man-made,
and thus changeable. Aristotle proposed similar "theories" in this regard, referring to females
as passive and males as active. Female to him was a "mutilated male," someone without a
soul. According to him, a woman's innate inferiority causes her to be inferior in her faculties,
her ability to understand, and hence her ability to decide. He is born to govern and she is born
to be ruled since male is superior and woman is inferior. “A man's courage is displayed in
commanding a woman to obey,” he stated (Learner 1989:8-11). However, these beliefs of
male superiority have been debunked, and it has been established that such explanations are
not supported by historical or scientific evidence. Although there are biological differences
between male and female, these differences do not have to be used to justify a male-
dominated sexual hierarchy. The examination of several of these views reveals that patriarchy
is a man-made phenomenon, the result of historical processes. No single theory for
patriarchy's origins is embraced by all. I will just present a few of the main theories put forth
here, and only very briefly. Frederick Engels' book The Origins of the Family, Private
Property, and the State, published in 1884, provided a key account for patriarchy's origins
(Engels 1940). Women's subjection, as per Engels, began with the formation of private
property, when the world's historic defeat of the feminine sex occurred. According to him,
both the divide of classes and women's subjugation arose historically. When private property
first emerged in society, men aspired to keep their power and wealth and pass it down to their
children. Mother-right was abolished in order to assure this inheritance. Women had to be
confined and restricted, and their sexuality had to be governed and supervised in order to
demonstrate the father's prerogative. As per Engels, monogamy and patriarchy for women
were formed around this time. Patriarchy existed before private property, as per radical
feminists (Brownmiller 1976; Firestone 1974). They consider that the initial and fundamental
conflict would be between the sexes, rather than between social classes. All women are seen
as a class by radical feminists. They, unlike traditionalists, do not believe that patriarchy is
inherent, that it has always existed, and that it will continue to exist. Socialist feminists
embrace and apply Marxism's essential principles, but they have attempted to expand and
extend it by focusing on areas that they believe have been overlooked by traditional Marxist
philosophy. Cos of their adherence to a historical, materialist technique as well as their own
observations of variation in the sexual division of labour, they do not regard patriarchy to be
an unchanging or universal structure. Socialist feminists believe that the battle between men
and women has evolved over time as production methods have changed (Beechey 1977)
Hartmann (1981) examines the relationship between patriarchy and capitalism, arguing that
patriarchy binds all males together, regardless of their social station. Both capital and her
spouse gain from a woman's employment. Patriarchy, according to Hartmann, is a set of
material interactions in which men have hierarchical relationships with one another and are
united in their desire to subjugate women. Men's dominance over women's labour power is
the material foundation of patriarchy. Male-ness and female-ness, as per Mies, are not
biologically determined, but instead the consequence of a protracted historical process. Male-
ness and female-ness are viewed differently in each historical epoch, based on the dominant
method of production at the time. This implies that the organic differences between the sexes
are understood and valued differently depending on the dominant mode of plunder of natural
matter for human wants satisfaction. As per Lerner (1989), patriarchy was the result of a
process that lasted over 2500 years (around 3100 BC to 600 BC) and involved a number of
events and pressures that resulted in the development of male supremacy as we know it
today. Gerda Lerner (1989) emphasises the significance of women's history in the fight for
patriarchy and for equality. Patriarchy, she claims, predated the development of class society
and private property. Instead of patriarchy, which they deny as historical, one socialist
feminist school of thought chooses to employ the concept of female subordination. As per
them, patriarchy is neither ubiquitous nor all-encompassing, as multiple sorts of male-female
relationships have always existed for millennia. They believe that gender, not sex, is the most
essential factor; sex is biological, whereas gender is social. This organisation is focused with
what they refer to as gender relations (Oakley 1972). The investigation for the social origins
of this connection is an important aspect of the feminist political approach. It is impossible to
overcome the unbalanced connection between men and women without first comprehending
its origin and functioning.
LAWS TO PROTECT WOMAN

Every day, women are controlled, abused, raped, kidnapped and harassed in a world where

goddesses are idolised. The Indian government protects Indian women's rights by keeping an
eye on a number of women's issues. "Once and for all, human rights are women's rights, and
women's rights are human rights." - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Equal pay for men and women is a legal obligation.

When it comes to salary, pay, or earnings, one cannot be discriminated against on the basis of
sex, as per the Equal Remuneration Act's rules. Working women have the right to be paid
equally to working males.

Women have the right to be treated with respect and decency.

Any medical examination process on the accused must be conducted by — or in the sight of
— another woman if the accused is a woman.

Women have a right to be free of workplace harassment.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act allows a woman the ability to make a
complaint at her workplace if she is subjected to any form of sexual harassment. She has
three months to file a written complaint with an ICC at a branch office under this act.

Women have a right to be free from domestic violence.

Domestic violence (including emotional, financial, physical, and sexual) by a partner, male
live-in partner, or family is prohibited under Section 498 of the Indian Constitution. The
accused will be sentenced to a term of non-bailable imprisonment of up to 3 years, as well as
a fine.

Victims of sexual assault against women have the right to remain anonymous.

A woman who has been sexually attacked may record her testimony alone before a district
magistrate when the matter is under trial, or in the company of a female police officer, to
assure that her privacy is respected.

 the right to free legal representation.

Female rape victims have the right under the Legal Services Authorities Act to get free
assistance or legal aid from the Legal Services Authority, which is responsible for finding a
lawyer for her.

Women have the right not to be detained in the middle of the night.

A woman cannot be arrested after sunset and before daybreak unless there is an extraordinary
case on the orders of a first-class magistrate. Furthermore, the rule stipulates that a woman
can only be interrogated at her home by the police in the company of a female constable.

The right to file virtual grievances.

Women can file virtual complaints by e-mail or write a complaint and mail it to a police
station from a registered postal address, according to the law. In addition, the SHO sent a
police officer to her residence to document her complaint. If a woman is unable to physically
go to a police station and submit a report, this option is available.

Right to be free from indecent representation.

It is illegal to depict a woman's figure (her form or any aspect of her body) in any way that is
indecent, disparaging, or likely to disempower, corrupt, or impair public decency or morals.