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Foundation Course Human Rights, Gender & Environment
University of Delhi BA Programme II
1
Understanding Patriarchy
Suranjita Ray
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Subordination of women to men is prevalent in large parts of the world.
We come across experiences where women are not only treated as
subordinate to men but are also subject to discriminations, humiliations,
exploitations, oppressions, control and violence. Women experience
discrimination and unequal treatment in terms of basic right to food,
health care, education, employment, control over productive resources,
decision-making and livelihood not because of their biological differences
or sex, which is natural but because of their gender differences which is a
social construct. “Sex is considered a fact - one is born with either male or
female genitalia. Gender is considered a social construction - it grants
meaning to the fact of sex. Conversely, it could be said that only after
specific meanings came to be attached to the sexes, did sex differences
become pertinent” (Geetha, 2002: 10). Gender based discriminations and
exploitations are widespread and the socio-culturally defined
characteristics, aptitudes, abilities, desires, personality traits, roles,
responsibilities and behavioral patterns of men and women contribute to
the inequalities and hierarchies in society. Gender differences are man
made and they get legitimised in a patriarchal society. This paper
attempts to link the theoretical dimensions of patriarchy with its empirical
experiences to engage in the ongoing debates and discussion on
“patriarchy” which manifests itself in various forms of discriminations,
inequalities, hierarchies, inferior status and position of women in society.
Thus it is important to understand patriarchy in terms of its multiplicity,
complexities and dynamics.
What is Patriarchy?
Patriarchy literally means rule of the father in a male-dominated family. It
is a social and ideological construct which considers men (who are the
patriarchs) as superior to women. Sylvia Walby in “Theorising Patriarchy”
calls it “a system of social structures and practices in which men
dominate, oppress and exploit women” (Walby, 1990). Patriarchy is based
on a system of power relations which are hierarchical and unequal where
men control women’s production, reproduction and sexuality. It imposes
masculinity and femininity character stereotypes in society which
strengthen the iniquitous power relations between men and women.
Patriarchy is not a constant and gender relations which are dynamic and
complex have changed over the periods of history. The nature of control
and subjugation of women varies from one society to the other as it differs
due to the differences in class, caste, religion, region, ethnicity and the
socio-cultural practices. Thus in the context of India, brahminical
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Department of Political Science, Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi.
Foundation Course Human Rights, Gender & Environment
University of Delhi BA Programme II
2
patriarchy, tribal patriarchy and dalit patriarchy are different from each
other. Patriarchy within a particular caste or class also differs in terms of
their religious and regional variations. Similarly subordination of women in
developed countries is different from what it is in developing countries.
While subordination of women may differ in terms of its nature, certain
characteristics such as control over women’s sexuality and her
reproductive power cuts across class, caste, ethnicity, religions and
regions and is common to all patriarchies. This control has developed
historically and is institutionalized and legitimized by several ideologies,
social practices and institutions such as family, religion, caste, education,
media, law, state and society, which are discussed in the later sections.
Patriarchal societies propagate the ideology of motherhood which restrict
women’s mobility and burdens them with the responsibilities to nurture
and rear children. The biological factor to bear children is linked to the
social position of women’s responsibilities of motherhood: nurturing,
educating and raising children by devoting themselves to family.
“Patriarchal ideas blur the distinction between sex and gender and
assume that all socio-economic and political distinctions between men
and women are rooted in biology or anatomy” (Heywood, 2003: 248).
Gender like social class, caste, race or religion is a significant social
cleavage and it is important to analyse it to understand social inequalities,
oppressions and unequal relationship between men and women. It has
been explained by feminist scholars / thinkers/ writers who believe that
the theory of ‘sexual politics’ and ‘sexism’ are conscious parallels with
theory of ‘class politics’ and ‘racism’ to understand oppression of women.
The traditionalist view accepts patriarchy as biologically determined and
as the biological functions of men and women are different, the social
roles and tasks assigned for women are also different. Sigmund Freud
stated that for women ‘anatomy is destiny’ and it is women’s biology
which primarily determine their psychology and hence their abilities and
roles. Similarly the traditional notion of ‘public-private divide’ which
located politics in the public sphere and family and personal relationships
in private sphere as non-political, believed that sexual inequality is natural
and not political. While the political sphere was preserved for men the
private sphere was reserved for women as housewives and mothers who
were excluded from politics. These theories of male supremacy have
been challenged and opposed by feminists as they lack historical or
scientific evidence. Feminists argue that the biological difference might
lead to some difference in their roles, but the former should not become
the basis of a sexual hierarchy in which men are dominant. The
dismantling of these theories enables us to acknowledge that patriarchy is
man-made and has developed historically by the socio-economic and
political processes in society.
Gerda Lerner in “The Creation of Patriarchy” (1986) has argued against
single cause theories and against looking for one historical moment when
patriarchy was established. Patriarchy has been conceptualized and
analyzed by several feminist scholars in different ways. Feminists have
Foundation Course Human Rights, Gender & Environment
University of Delhi BA Programme II
3
challenged patriarchal knowledge, ideology, values and its practice.
Despite a range of common themes within feminism, disagreements exist
amongst the feminists in understanding patriarchy. All feminists do not
like the term “patriarchy” for various reasons and prefer the term “gender”
and “gender oppression”. Patriarchy has remained a relatively undefined
concept and some feminist scholars are at unease with the use of the
concept of ‘patriarchy’ when it involves the notion of a general system of
inequality. Michele Barrett argues that the use of the term patriarchy
assumes that the relation between men and women is unchanging and
universalistic. She suggests that it can only be appropriate if it is defined
very narrowly and refers to specific aspects of ideological relations such
as those of father-daughter relationship described in Virginia Woolf’s
Three Guineas (Barrett, 1980: 15). The use of the term often involves
confusion between ‘patriarchy’ as rule of the father and ‘patriarchy’ as
men’s domination of women (ibid, 16). However, Sylvia Walby critiques
Barrett as the problem is not with the concept itself but with the way it is
used in specific texts as it involves problems of reductionism, biologism,
universalism, and therefore the inconsistent definition of patriarchy needs
be overcome in an adequate analysis of gender inequality (Walby, 1986:
28). Sheila Rowbotham also argues that ‘the term patriarchy necessarily
implies a conception of women’s oppression that is universalistic,
ahistoric and essentially biologistic and that it incorrectly leads to a search
for a single cause of women’s oppression either in a base super-structure
model or as quest for ultimate origins from capitalist relations’
(Rowbotham, 1981, in Walby, 1986: 30).
Suma Chitnis (2004) argues that because of the inadequate note of
historical circumstances and values that render women’s issues different
in India, a large section of the population recoils from the feminist rhetoric.
Similarly the unease with the term patriarchy is because of the role that
men have played in the emergence and growth of women’s question in
India. In a hierarchical society often gender oppression is linked with
oppressions based on caste, class, community, tribe and religion, and in
such multiple patriarchies “men as the principal oppressors” is not easily
accepted (Chaudhuri, 2004: xxii-xxiii). However, Mary E. John argues that
multiple patriarchies which are byproducts of discrimination along class,
caste and communal lines, are diverse in nature and it is because of the
unequal patriarchies that “there is a need to conceptualize the complex
articulation of different patriarchies, along with the distinct and equally
challenging question of how subaltern genders are relating to questions of
power in the current conjuncture” (John, 2004: 66).
The assertion of autonomous dalit women’s organizations have thrown up
several crucial theoretical and political challenges besides underlying the
brahmanism of feminist movements and patriarchal practices of dalit
politics. Within the framework of ‘difference’ the issues of caste is
primarily responsible for oppression of dalit women (Rege, 2004: 211).
Sharmila Rege argues that the category of ‘difference’ has been brought
to the centre of feminist analysis by the black and third world feminists
who question the sex/class debate of the 1970s and argue that the
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