Patriarchy

Patriarchy (from Greek: patria meaning father and arché meaning rule) is the anthropological term used to define the sociological condition where male members of a society tend to predominate in positions of power; the more powerful the position, the more likely it is that a male will hold that position. The term "patriarchy" is also used in systems of ranking male leadership in certain hierarchical churches or religious bodies (see patriarch and Patriarchate). Examples include the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox churches. "Patriarchy" is also used pejoratively to describe a seemingly immobile and sclerotic political order.

Definition

The term "patriarchy" is distinct from patrilineality and patrilocality. "Patrilineal" defines societies where the derivation of inheritance (financial or otherwise) originates from the father's line; for example, a society with matrilineal traits such as Judaism provides that in order to be considered a Jew, a person must be born of a Jewish mother. "Patrilocal" defines a locus of control coming from the father's geographic/cultural community. In a matrilineal/matrilocal society, a woman lives with her mother and siblings, even after marriage; she does not leave her maternal home. Her brothers act as 'social fathers' and hold a higher influence on the woman's offspring to the detriment of the children's biological father. Most societies are predominantly patrilineal and patrilocal (see: matriarchy).

Patrilineality

Patrilineality (a.k.a agnatic kinship) is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage; it generally involves the inheritance of property, names, or titles through the male line.

A patriline is a line of descent from a male ancestor to a descendant (of either sex) in which the individuals in all intervening generations are male. In a patrilineal descent system (also called agnatic descent), an individual is considered to belong to the same descent group as his or her father. This directly contrasts the less common pattern of matrilineal descent.

The agnatic ancestry of an individual is his or her male ancestry. An agnate is one's (male) relative in an unbroken male line: a kinsman with whom one has a common ancestor by descent in an unbroken male line. The fact that the Y chromosome is paternally inherited enables geneticists to trace patrilines and agnatic kinships of men.

The Salic Law in medieval and later Europe purportedly served as the grounds for only males being eligible for hereditary succession to monarchies and fiefs, i.e in patrilineal or agnatic succession. The line of descent for monarchs and main personalities is almost exclusively through the main male personalities. (see Davidic line.)

Patrilocality

Patrilocality is a term used by social anthropologists to describe a socially instituted practice whereupon a married couple lives with or near the family of the husband.

A patrilocal residence is based on a rule that a man remains in his father's home after maturity. When he becomes married, his wife joins him in his father's home where the couple will raise their children. These children will follow the same pattern: Sons will stay, and daughters will move in with their husbands' families. Household sizes grow quickly as this process continues. Families living in a patrilocal residence generally assume joint ownership of domestic sources. A senior member leads the household and directs the labor of all other members.

Roughly 69% of the world's societies practice patrilocality.

Image of traditional cultural paternalism: Father Junipero Serra in a modern portrayal at Mission San Juan Capistrano, California

Paternalism

Paternalism usually refers to an attitude or a policy stemming from the hierarchical pattern of a family based on patriarchy; a figurehead (the "father") makes decisions on behalf of others (the "children") for their own good, even if this is contrary to their opinions.

It is implied that the fatherly figure is wiser than and acts in the best interest of those he protects. The term is used derogatorily to characterize attitudes or political systems that are thought to deprive individuals of freedom - only nominally serving their interests while, in fact, pursuing another agenda.

In anthropology

Human societies - whether ancient, indigenous or modern industrial - have been described in anthropology as either patriarchal or matriarchal systems. Between these polarities lie a number of social structures which include elements of both systems (see above under Patriarchy a discussion of the terms patrilinial and patrilocal ).

Anthropologist Donald Brown has listed patriarchy as one of the "human universals" (Brown 1991, p. 137), which includes characteristics such as age gradation, personal hygiene, aesthetics, food sharing, and other sociological aspects, implying that patriarchy is innate to the human condition. Margaret Mead has observed that "... all the claims so glibly made about societies ruled by women are nonsense. We have no reason to believe that they ever existed....Men have always been the leaders in public affairs and the final authorities at home."

Societies have developed out of patriarchal cultures. Institutions of religion, education, and commerce retain patriarchal practices. Patriarchy in the form of divided roles between women and men into domestic and social spheres is distinctly visible in modern Muslim countries. In Europe and America, whose cultures are based on a Christian model, political and religious power continues to exert a strong influence.

The ideas of Age of Enlightenment philosophy, and Revolutionary movements including Feminism have brought about changes creating wider possibilities for both women and men. Marxist ideals support the advocacy of egalitarianism between the sexes, but these aspirations have been overtaken by authoritarian forms of political organization in communist states. In China, for example, the law requires that an equal number of women and men compose the National People's Congress. There are, however, no women within the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, the agency that actually rules China. Prior to its dissolution, the Soviet Union's Congress of People's Deputies likewise consisted of equal numbers of men and women. Its successor, the Duma, which has governing authority, at present has only 35 female deputies among the 450 members.

The longstanding thesis that societies are innately patriarchal has raised political opposition. The Modern Matriarchal Studies organization has held two conferences in Luxembourg (2004) and San Marcos, Texas (2005) in efforts to redefine the term "matriarchy." www.hagia.de/ (hagia being derived from the Greek hagios or "holy"}. Various chairs, called "priestesses" in the group's literature, conducted workshops and at the end of the conference declared that “International Matriarchal Politics stands against white supremacist patriarchal capitalist homogenization and the globalization of misery. It stands for egalitarianism, diversity and the economics of the heart. Many matriarchal societies still exist around the world and they propose an alternative, life affirming model to patriarchal raptor capitalism."Societies of Peace Declaration (2005), 2-3

Chinese Patriarchy

Chinese philosopher Mencius outlined the Three Subordinations: A woman was to be subordinate to her father in youth, her husband in maturity, and her son in old age.

Repeated throughout ancient Chinese tradition, the familiar notion that men govern the outer world, while women govern the home serves as a cliche of classical texts.

In the Han dynasty, the female historian Ban Zhao wrote the Lessons for Women to advise women how to behave. She outlined the Four Virtues women must abide by: proper virtue, proper speech, proper countenance, and proper merit. The "three subordinations and the four virtues" became a common four-character phrase throughout the imperial period.

As for the historical development of Chinese patriarchy, women's status was highest in the Tang dynasty, when women played sports (polo) and were generally freer in fashion and conduct. Between the Tang and Song dynasties, a fad for little feet arose, and from the Song dynasty forward footbinding became more and more common for the elite. In the Ming dynasty, a tradition of virtuous widowhood developed. Widows, even if widowed at a young age, were expected to not remarry. If they remained widows, their virtuous names might be displayed on the arch at the entrance of the village.

Examples of patriarchy in 20th and 21st century China include the immense pressure on women to get married before the age of 30 and the incidence of female infanticide associated with China's one child policy. However, footbinding has been eradicated and trafficking in women in China has greatly reduced.

In religion

Abrahamic religions

Map showing the prevalence of "Abrahamic" (purple) and "Dharmic" (yellow) religions in each country.

In the study of comparative religion, an Abrahamic religion or Judeo-Abrahamic faith is any of those religions deriving from a common ancient Semitic tradition and traced by its adherents to Abraham ("Father/Leader of many" Hebrew אַבְרָהָם Arabic ابراهيم), a patriarch whose life is narrated in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and as a prophet in the Qur'an and in Genesis 20:7. This forms a large group of largely monotheistic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá'í Faith. Abrahamic religions account for more than half of the world's total religious adherents. Many members of these religions, however, will reject this grouping of their faiths on the grounds that they contain inherently and fundamentally incompatible ideas concerning Abraham and concerning God.

According to the Jewish tradition, Abraham was the first post-flood person to reject idolatry through rational analysis (Shem and Eber carried on the Tradition from Noah), hence he symbolically appears as a fundamental figure for monotheistic religions. In that sense, Abrahamic religion could be simply called monotheistic religion, but not all monotheistic religions are Abrahamic. In Islam he is considered the first monotheist in a world where monotheism was lost (Abraham being a prophet in a line of prophets starting with Adam) and is often referred to as Ibrahim al-Hanif or Abraham the Monotheist.

There are six notable figures in the Bible prior to Abraham: Adam and Eve, their two sons Cain and Abel, Enoch, and his great-grandson, Noah, who, according to the story, saved his own family and all animal life in Noah's Ark. It is uncertain whether any of them (assuming they existed) left any recorded moral code: some Christian churches maintain faith in ancient books like the Book of Enoch — and Genesis mentions the Noahide Laws given by God to the family of Noah. For the most part, these 'patriarchs' serve as good (or bad, in the case of Cain) role models of behavior, without a more specific indication of how one interprets their actions in any religion.

According to the Bible, the patriarch Abraham (or Ibrahim, in Arabic) had eight sons by three wives: one (Ishmael) by his wife's servant Hagar, one (Isaac) by his wife Sarah, and six by another wife Keturah. Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Bahá'u'lláh, and other prominent figures all claim to be descendants of Abraham through one of these sons.

Jews see Abraham as the progenitor of the people of Israel, through his descendants Isaac and Jacob. Christians view Abraham as an important exemplar of faith and a spiritual ancestor of Jesus — a Jew considered the Son of God through whom God promised to bless all the families of the earth. In addition, Muslims refer to Christians and Jews, among others, as People of the Book ("the Book" symbolizes divine scripture, such as Tanakh and the New Testament). They see Abraham as one of the most important of the many prophets sent by God. Thus Abraham represents for some, a point of commonality whom they seek to emphasize by means of this terminology.

So, rather than being the sole "founding figure," Abraham is more correctly described as the first figure in Genesis who (a) is clearly not of direct divine origin, such as Adam and Eve are claimed to be; (b) is accepted by three major monotheistic faiths as playing some major role in the founding of their common civilization; and (c) is not claimed as the male genetic forebear of all humans on the Earth (such as Noah in more literal interpretations).

Judaism

While the patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - formed what we know as Judaism, many considered the matriarchs - Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah - superior in prophesy.

Christianity

In 1 Timothy 2:8-15, Paul outlines the role of women in the church, which includes dressing modestly and learning "in silence with all subjection" - not "to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man." In chapter 3, he delineates the roles and values of bishops and deacons, further discussing the supportive nature of their wives.

Eastern Orthodoxy

The Eastern Orthodox Church is a Christian body that encompasses national jurisdictions such as the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, and other Churches (see Eastern Orthodox Church organization). It traces its origins to the original undivided Christian community founded by Jesus for salvation, with its traditions first established by the Twelve Apostles at the time of Pentecost and maintained through unbroken Apostolic Succession.

The Holy Trinity/Hospitality of Abraham

The Orthodox Church considers itself to be the original church started by Christ and his apostles. The life taught by Jesus to the apostles, invigorated by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, is known as Holy Tradition. The Bible, texts written by the apostles to record certain aspects of the life of the Church at the time, serves as the primary witness to Holy Tradition. Because of the Bible's apostolic origin, it is regarded as central to the life of the Church.

Other witnesses to Holy Tradition include the liturgical services of the Church, its iconography, the rulings of the Ecumenical councils, and the writings of the Church Fathers. From the consensus of the Fathers (consensus patrum) one may enter more deeply and understand more fully the Church's life. Individual Fathers are not looked upon as infallible, but, rather, the whole consensus of them together will give one a proper understanding of the Bible and Christian doctrine.

In gender studies

In gender studies, the word patriarchy often refers to a social organization marked by the supremacy of a male figure, group of male figures, or men in general. It is depicted as subordinating women, children, and those whose genders or bodies defy traditional male/female categorization.

In such a context, qualifying something as "paternalistic" or "patriarchical" implies a pejorative meaning, having similar associations as "chauvinistic." However, a man or woman can behave in a paternalistic manner. For instance, many activists during the Women's Health Movement criticized doctors for their paternalistic actions. While most doctors were male, many female doctors encountered the same accusations because they also engaged in behavior that subordinated women.

Feminist view

Many feminist writers considered patriarchy the basis on which most modern societies have been formed. They argue that it is necessary and desirable to get away from this model in order to achieve gender equality.

Feminist writer Marilyn French, in her polemic Beyond Power, defines patriarchy as a system that values power over life, control over pleasure, and dominance over happiness. She argues that:

It is therefore extremely ironic that patriarchy has upheld power as a good that is permanent and dependable, opposing it to the fluid, transitory goods of matricentry. Power has been exalted as the bulwark against pain, against the ephemerality of pleasure, but it is no bulwark, and is as ephemeral as any other part of life [...] Yet so strong is the mythology of power that we continue to believe, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, that it is substantial, that if we possessed enough of it we could be happy, that if some "great man" possessed enough of it, he could make the world come right.

According to French:

It is not enough either to devise a morality that will allow the human race simply to survive. Survival is an evil when it entails existing in a state of wretchedness. Intrinsic to survival and continuation is felicity, pleasure [...] But pleasure does not exclude serious pursuits or intentions, indeed, it is found in them, and it is the only real reason for staying alive.

The latter philosophy is what French offers as a replacement to the current structure where, she says, power has the highest value.

Gender-issues writer Cathy Young, by contrast, dismisses reference to "patriarchy" as a semantic device intended to shield the speaker from accountability when making misandrist slurs, since "patriarchy" means all of Western society. She cites Andrea Dworkin's criticism, "Under patriarchy, every woman's son is her potential betrayer and also the inevitable rapist or exploiter of another woman."

Bibliography

• Pierre Bourdieu, Masculine Domination, Polity Press 2001
• Robert Brown, Human Universals. Philadelphia: Temple University Press 1991
• Margaret Mead, Male and Female, London: Penguin 1950
• Maria Mies, Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the International Division of Labour, Palgrave MacMillan 1999
• Sandra Morgen, Into Our Own Hands: The Women's Health Movement in the United States, 1969-1990, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press 2002

External links

• Cattle ownership makes it a man's world New Scientist (1. October 2003): Early matrilineal societies became patrilineal when they started herding cattle, a new study demonstrates
• Debate Between Mark Ridley and Stephen Goldberg on the Inevitability of Patriarchy
• The Return of Patriarchy by By Phillip Longman
• Chart and explanation of patrilocal residence
• What's Next? Heaven, hell, and salvation in major world religions A side-by-side comparison of different religion's views from Beliefnet.
• The Abrahamic Faiths: A Comparison How do Judaism, Christianity, and Islam differ? More from Beliefnet

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