• The term patriarchy comes from the

Latin pater (father) and arch (rule).

Historically, “rule of the father” was the
more appropriate definition of patriarchy.
• Patriarchy is often defined as a system of
male dominance.
• Patriarchy is a social system that values
masculinity over femininity
Patriarchy is linked to
gender roles
@

@
@refers to the social system
where men dominated and
were valued more than women
in China.
@ form of social organization based
on Confucian belief in which all
values are determined by reference
to the maintenance, continuity and
function of the family groups.
*Emphasis on the father/son
relationship
*Family Pride
*Encouragement of the large family
*The cult of ancestor worship
*Common Ownership of property
Emphasis on the father/son
relationship

*This relationship establishes the

conditions for patriarchy,
patrilocal residence after
marriage, patrilineal descent,
agnatic clan organization and the
inheritance of property by one
or all legal male heirs.
Family Pride

*The family’s standing is

important in that any member’s
high status is taken to be the
high status of the family and her
or his disgrace is taken to be the
disgrace of the family.
Encouragement of the
large family
*Traditional values encourages
the living together of blood
relatives and regards with shame
any division of the household. It
is unimportant what the actual
size of the average family may
be; whenever economic
circumstances permit the family
size will continue to grow.
The cult of ancestor
worship
The father-and-son relationship,
being a link of unending chain
between generations leads
upward to ancestor worship and
downward to the sin of “no
posterity”. A natural result of this
emphasis is demonstrated in the
keeping of elaborate lineage and
the building of splendid ancestral
halls
Common Ownership of
property

Besides the ideological

reinforcement, the economic
basis of familism is its common
ownership of property. Maybe no
family could achieve unity unless
the destinies of its members were
bond together by a mutual sharing
of prosperity and disaster.
Confucian Orthodoxy dictate
a patriarchal society in
which the stereotypical
woman had limited
authority in the family, clan,
or politics.
*Patriarchal means that the oldest male in a
family is the legal head and responsible for
all aspects of the family, including finances
and behavior of the other members.
*Once the father died the children divided
the household and established their own
residences.
*The eldest son had primary responsibility
for the welfare of his living parents, the
worship of their spirits after death and the
welfare of the other family members.
*Goods and money, however, were divided
equally among the male siblings and each
was entitled to an equal share of the
parent's wealth.

*Daughters received their inheritance as

dowry when they married and seldom
received additional monies upon the death
of their parents.

*The eldest brother was responsible for

arranging marriages and for providing
dowries for any unmarried sisters; as the
legal head of the family, he inherited his
parents' responsibilities.
*Eldest son assumed being the household
head upon his father's death and also
responsible for supporting his mother. He
often takes charge to her wishes and
always treated her with respect. For a
women, being a widow with adult sons was
the epitome of power and influence.
*Patrilocalmeans that the family centered
in the male's home location

* Women were never permanent members

of the family but came and went into this
stable male family as they married,
divorced, were widowed and remarried.
*Young girls were "guests" in their parent's
homes and at the appropriate age (15-19)
they would marry out of their family and
move into their husband's family.
*Men and women had a completely different
sense of family. The man stayed with the
same family all his life, continued with the
same habits and customs, revered the
same ancestors, and felt a continuity with
all his relatives of the past. Women, on the
other hand, had a discontinuous
experience of family: upon marriage, they
left their natal families and moved into the
families of strangers.
*Women were expected to adapt to their
new family and consider his husbands
parents and ancestors as her own.

*A woman “came home” when married.

*Patrilineal means that descent was counted
only through the male line. Children had
the surname of their fathers and belonged
to that lineage; mothers could not pass on
their lineage or names (except in rather
unusual circumstances).

*Only children of the male descent line

could worship the parents and ancestors.
*To die without having a son was considered
as the most undutiful of all acts.

*To have no father (to be illegitimate)

meant that one had no lineage and thus no
protection in case of need, and no one to
sponsor entry to school or to jobs. It meant
that essentially one was alone in a society
in which connections, especially family
connections, were essential for all acts of
life.
*One could never marry anyone with the
same surname as he/she was considered to
belong to the same family and to marry
would be incestuous.

*One could marry one's first cousins on the

mother's side, as they were "outside" one's
family. In fact, marriage between first
cousins on the mother's side was quite
frequent as these cousins were seen to be
known quantities who could easily adjust
to the family.
*Chinese has cleverly devised a solution for
this problem.

*The parents "brought in" a husband for one

of their daughters who would marry their
daughter, move into their home, adopt
their surname and treat them as his own
parents.
*First, he would inherit all the family
property as there were no sons to do so, so
it might be financially advantageous.

*Second, he did not have to give the usual

gifts to the brides family, thus again saving
lots of money.
*The men who did this were often younger
sons who saw little prospect for a decent
inheritance form their own parents

*Often they were poorer than the families

into whom they married so it was a social
step up for them.
*Women were treated as possessions.
*They expected to bear a child and
responsible for child rearing.
*They do house chores.
* They should be obedient/submissive to
their father during childhood, to their
husband during marriage and to their son
during widowhood.
*"Itis interesting that in Chinese “caring”
and “pain” actually are the same word,
“Teng”. This proves a Chinese ideology:
Beating is caring, scolding is loving.“

*Wife-beating, as well as child beating was

common
*Infanticide was by no means uncommon.
*Female children were sold or adopted as
child brides by their future in-laws.
*Foot binding is a means of displaying social
status. Though it became a fashion on
Chinese culture, it seriously damages the
foot. It was banned 100 years ago.
*Formal exclusion of women from top
positions
*Discriminationagainst women in hiring and
promotion; simply because they are not men
*Maintenance of male career patterns which
require mobility, full-time work and no
interruptions (for child-bearing); female can
be laid off.
*Lower salary than men, slower promotion.

*Glass Ceiling is a “transparent barrier”

that keeps minorities and women from
rising to the upper positions of the
corporate ladder, regardless of their
qualifications or achievements.

*Outward appearance influences the

possibility of being hired for a job. Chinese
women tend to undergo several
enhancement surgeries to look beautiful.
*Leaders of the country are afraid of
women taking away their power because
women can reproduce and create labor
force and even army. Women must submit
to male authority