Patriarchy and its effect on Gender Inequality

Sanya Agrawal
1. Introduction

Patriarchy is a social system, in which men hold primary power and predominate roles of
political leadership, moral authority, social privileges and much more. It has been present in
our society ever since the beginning of civilization itself. But it’s in the last century that we
started questioning it as we are doing it now. It has emerged as a matter of great interest
and debate, whether it is a cultural, societal or intellectual invention or a natural situation
that was fated.
 As patriarchy is the least noticed yet the most significant structure of social inequality, it
often escapes our notice of how toxic it had become.
From overlooking the voice of women to overlooking many other genders that exist,
patriarchy seems to be the root cause of it all.

2. Patriarchy: From the Start

Historically, patriarchy has manifested itself in the social, legal, political, religious, and
economic organizations of a range of different cultures. From Indus civilization to
Mesopotamian civilization, we can trace back the origin of patriarchy ever since 3000 BCE. In
the early era, the dominance of gender was gained by strength and virility.
In a world where strength was the necessity to live, it was natural to see men as the
dominant gender. But as the civilization developed the need for strength reduced and the
need for intelligence increased. 
Even after this central change, the dominance of men remained continued. It was because of
the ingrained ideology of ‘Men being more important than women to survive.’ Even now as
we are living in the 21st century, the ideology of the need for patriarchy still remains intact
in many minds.

3. An Undesirable System

Focusing on the impact of Patriarchy, we need to find not only what makes patriarchy an
outdated system, but also why it is harmful too. The central theme of the idea being men
being superior has many faults.  
In the interview conducted for this report, 90% of interviewed people believed that
Patriarchy is harmful to women, while 55%believed that it is harmful to men too.
 A patriarchic society presents an unfavourable situation in front of women as they are
depressed and oppressed from being their fuller selves. A woman who could have
contributed to the economy by pursuing higher education is often stopped before she even
began it. In "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" by Adrienne Rich, we can see how Aunt Jennifer is facing
the horror of patriarchy when she is subjected to ordeals of it. Her husband controls her,
making her feeble and draining the life out of her.
And it is not only women who are negatively affected by this social system, but the men,
who themselves are the head, are also affected just as much. From having the burden of
living up to set expectations. These expectations are generally being insensitive, inhuman
and to be a breadwinner for the family. This often limits men to explore themselves as
humans and force them to live in terms of society rather than their own terms.
4. Modern Society: No Place For Patriarchy:

4.1 Ever Changing Face of Patriarchy

As we are two decades in, in the 21st century we still face the redundant idea of patriarchy.
While the rules and regulations of this social system may change but it still hasn't ceased to
exist.
 In the early era, where Patriarchy meant only men had the right of holding property or
inflict domestic violence, in this century it means having it easy while getting a promotion
against any other gender or being able to go alone at night. The way of inequality is caused
has changed but the idea still seeped into modern society, subtly but very effectively.

4.2 Existing in Vocabulary

Knowingly or unknowingly, we all have been the source of inequality. And it is not only
actions that cause it but the words too.
 By typical definition, sexist language is considered to be any language that is supposed to
include all people, but, unintentionally (or not) excludes a gender—this can be either males
or females. Sociolinguistic research, over the years, has shown that the English language
favours the masculine gender as opposed to the feminine. Sexism in the English language is
only one of the many byproducts of it.
Words like Tramp, when used for men mean homeless person, but when used for women it
becomes a derogatory term. Similarly, the word governor means 'a man who exercises a
sovereign authority in a colony, territory or state' whereas, for the feminine word governess,
the first explanation is 'chief nursemaid'.
The above mentioned are just a few examples, while the effect of inequality caused by them
is tremendous.

5. The View of People

The interview and survey conducted for the research of this project made the current
situation and thinking of people about patriarchy clear. A total of 20 people participated in
it.
While everyone who responded to this research believed in equality of all genders, still 30%
of these people preferred patriarchy, 40% preferred matriarchy, while the rest believed that
both of these systems present serious flaws.
And while we often see the inequality as men against women, it is inequality in itself to leave
out other genders. 
5% of interviewed people knew about all genders, while 90% knew about only three genders
(Male, Female and trans) while the other 5% knew only about two(Male and female). 
And when they were asked about their own experience of gender inequality over 60% of
people said 'yes' of which two-thirds were women. 
And 30 % of people still believed that women should not have equal opportunity as men in
all areas of employment. 
It was in Maternity leave that everyone seems to have an untied front and 100% believed
that it should be compulsory and paid, while 95% believed that Paternity leave should also
be paid and compulsory leave.
While everyone is entitled to their opinion it becomes necessary to draw a line between
opinion and oppression by opinion.

6. Conclusion: Moving Forward

While we know how and why patriarchy leads to gender inequality, it is also important to
know how to put a halt to it. 
And its answer seems to be in the words of Maya Angelou, "Each time a woman stands up
for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it she stands up for all women." A
single woman can not break the chains of patriarchy for all but she can become an example
for others for breaking their own.
And it is not only the responsibility of women but of all genders including men to do the
right thing.
And it may take a couple of decades to reach the destination of society where everyone is
loved and celebrated but :
"A journey of Thousands of miles starts with a single step"