Patriarchy, Patriarchy

Patriarchy also refers to the role of men in society more generally where men take primary responsibility over the welfare of the community as a whole. This authority often includes acting as the dominant figures in social, economic, and political procedures, including serving as representatives via public office.

The women's rights movement of the early 20th century (also known as first-wave feminism) sought to bring political equality to women by giving them to right to vote and hold public office. In the 1960s and 70s, second-wave feminism addressed issues of social and economic inequality. This period also saw the rise of feminist theory which brought criticism of patriarchy into academic contexts. These challenges to the patriarchal order produced far-ranging social restructuring in Western democracies.

This description was later refuted by most experts studying the subject. Encyclopedia Britanica Most sociologists reject predominantly biological explanations of patriarchy and contend that social and cultural conditioning is primarily responsible for establishing male and female gender roles.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the word patriarchy has a range of additional, negative associations when used in the context of feminist theory, where it is sometimes capitalized and used with the definite article ( the Patriarchy ), likely best understood as a form of collective personification (compare "blame it on the Government" to "blame it on the Patriarchy"). The use of the word patriarchy in feminist literature has become so loaded with emotive associations that some writers prefer to use an approximate synonym, the more objective and technical androcentric (also from Greek anr , genitive andros , meaning man).

However, patriarchy also has two technical uses. In anthropology, it refersby extensionto men predominating in roles associated with governing societies. In feminismby a further extensionit refers to the inequality of social role between men and women. In fact, Gloria Watkins proposed that "the essence of feminism is opposition to patriarchy". bell hooks and others (1993): 34.

Source: Wikipedia > Patriarchy