A note on patriarchy

Uma Chakraborty

An important aspect of the women's movement and the feminist discourse

arising from it around the world has been the search for analytical tools and
theories through which to understand gender stratification in general and the
subjugation of women in particular. Since feminist studies is a new field, almost the
first task of feminist discourse was to identify the complex structure that
subjugates women and give it a proper name. Thus, from the middle of the
twentieth (eighth decade) of the century, feminist experts started using the word
patriarchy and defining it in a specific sense. Now this word is known with this
definition in social science and in the present study also it is used in the same form.
Patriarchy, by which a particular set of institutions is now recognized, is
defined as 'a system of social structures and actions in which men dominate, exploit
and oppress women.' It is important to look at patriarchy as a system because it
helps to refute the biological determinism view of inequality in power and status
between men and women and also makes it clear that that male or female
dominance is not an individual phenomenon but is part of a broader structure. The
most complete and useful definition of patriarchy is given by Garda Lerner.
According to her formulation, patriarchy is, "the dominance of men over women
and children in the family. It is the expression and institutionalization and
expansion of social dominance of men over women in general. It means that men
have control over all the important institutions of power in the society and women
deprived from this type access. She also says that this does not mean that “women
are either completely powerless or completely deprived of rights, influence and
resources. It also does not mean that every Men always remain in a state of
dominance and every woman always remains in a state of subordination, but the
important thing is that under this system, which we have named patriarchy, the
ideology remains dominant that men are more superior than women, and Men
control over women, and women are seen as men's property.

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 According to Gerda Lerner, the greatest challenge facing feminist studies is
to identify the different forms and circumstances in which patriarchy emerges in
different regions and different periods, and what are the specific features that give
rise to the specific nature of patriarchal structures. For example, experiences of
patriarchy are not the same for tribal women as they are in highly differentiated
caste societies. The form of this system today is not the same as it was in the
nineteenth century and it is different in Assam and Mizoram from Kerala.
Therefore, some scholars have now come to use the term patriarchy to encompass
the diversity and full range of patriarchal behavior. A notable aspect of this way of
defining patriarchies is that it allows us to see the relationship between patriarchy
and other institutions such as class, caste, state and ideology (be it religious or
secular). At the same time, we can also understand the fact that, because the
formation of patriarchy has a deep connection with history and because it has not
been static but has been changing, this can also be ended through the movements
of men and women those committed to building an egalitarian society based on
equality. To understand in detail what we have said so far, we will have to examine
some questions more closely. Which can be asked about and which are important
in understanding patriarchy. For example, when we talk about subordination of
women to men in a patriarchal system, How do men establish dominance over
women and what do they control. what does it exactly mean? How Men establish
control and on which things over women? their control over women how related
to resources, but why do they need to dominate women?
In the patriarchal system, among the aspects of women's life which are
controlled by men, the most important aspect is their reproductive capacity.
According to Gerda Lerner, this is the main reason behind the subordination of
women. Initially it was considered a resource of the clan to which the woman
belonged. Later, when elite ruling classes emerged, it became the property of the
dynasty of the ruling group. The exploitation of human labour and the sexual
control of women became closely linked with the development of intensive
agriculture. Thus, the need arose to control women's sexuality and this control
became more intense with the rise of private property and the development of
class-based exploitation. In patrilineal succession, property is transferred from
father to son, i.e. only between males. In this inheritance, a woman's sexual
services must be available to only one person. This service is limited to the

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husband's consumption only, so as to ensure that the person to whom the property
is to be transferred is biologically indeed the child of the same man. To fulfill this
need of the class society, legal and moral provisions are required to limit women's
sexuality within the marital relationship. Patriarchy is basically related to both class
and state. The earliest states in history were also organized in a patriarchal manner
and were very conscious of maintaining the patriarchal family system. According to
Lerner, sexual subordination of women, "existed even in the earliest legal systems
and was enforced with the full power of the state.
In addition to controlling a woman's sexuality under patriarchy, her
subordination to men, also men gain the ability to control her productive or labour
power. Men have control over women's productivity inside and outside the home
and it is also in their hands to decide whether they will work outside the home or
not. Control over women's labour means that men gain economic benefits from
the subordination of women. Due to dual control, i.e. control over women's
sexuality and labour, their freedom of movement is severely limited. For this, the
help of such traditions and customs is taken which bind her within the four walls of
the house or other defined boundaries. The entire structure of controls is facilitated
by denying women direct access to productive resources and making them
dependent on men.
The important concepts of paternalism and paternal dominance also help in
understanding patriarchy and how men's dominance over women works in society.
The relationship between a dominant group and a subordinate group (which is
considered weaker) is called paternalism when dominance is mitigated through
mutual obligations and rights to each other. The subordinate group receives
paternal protection in exchange for their subordination and sustenance in return
for unpaid labour. In their historical origins these principles arises from family
relations developed under patriarchy (Paternalism is a sub-section of patriarchy),
in which the father has complete control over all the members of his family. In
return, he has the responsibility to provide them, financial support and protection.
Subsequently, paternalism continues to exist for, it is extremely important that the
subservient members are convinced that their patron (patriarch ) is the only person
who can provide for his needs. The most remarkable aspect of paternalism is that
on one hand this system allows the male to soften the harshest points. At the same
time, it also weakens the ability of the subordinates that to see their subordination

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in a political form. Along with this, this ideology starts giving the satisfaction to the
dominant person that he can giving protection (not domination) the interests of
those inferior and weaker than him.
Paternalism is of great importance in understanding the situation of women
because their subordination is basically expressed in the form of paternalistic
dominance within the family structure. The ideology of paternalism quickly takes
hold among those women who are completely influenced by the cultural models of
religion, mythology and law. As elsewhere, paternalism has been extremely
successful in India and pre-independence and post-independence thinkers and
policy makers have played an important role in reestablishing it. As a result, there
were minor improvements in the status of women but there was no change in the
power relations between men and women in the family and wider society.
Paternalism reinforces gender-based division of labour as well as gender-based
power relations because it is fundamentally based on the idea that women should
work in different fields than men due to biological inequalities. Thus, we can see
that due to paternalism, we start thinking that the difference in the status of men
and women is merely biological and has no connection with any system of physical
and social structures on the basis of which men are gets the opportunity to
establish dominance over women, that is, this system very efficiently hides
patriarchy from view and neither men nor women are able to recognize its
influence in their lives. When men and women start considering the state of
subordination of women as 'natural' and as a result the state of subordination
ceases to be visible, then the roots of patriarchy become deeply entrenched and it
becomes established as a reality and an ideology.
Ideology is of great importance to understanding how patriarchy works as a
system. This importance of ideology leads us to a central issue raised by Gad Lerner:
Women's 'cooperation' as an ideology in keeping it intact for centuries the system
of patriarchy. As a ideology the system of patriarchy has two aspects: One, it
generates consent : women 'help' the continuation of patriarchy because they
support the ideologies of male supremacy through assimilation they give their
consent towards it. 'Collaboration' Or 'complicity' can be obtained in a number of
ways such as consent : lack of access to productive resources and reliance economic
dependence on the male head of the family, as stated above; exemplary of the
upper classes and privileges and respect given to dependent women; male

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superiority and/or different Ideologies of workplaces and opposition to the
ideologies and customs of patriarchies, in case of use of force or fear of use of force
etc.
Such cooperation or agreement in a way, it was forced to be vomited, not
given voluntarily because women were thrown out as dependent characters in the
physical structures. It must be understood that patriarchy is not merely an
ideological system but it also has a physical basis. Thus, once women are deprived
it becomes easier to get their cooperation because those who follow the system it
seems that they start getting not only class facilities but also medals of respect is
also awarded. Thus, women who not follow the rules and regulations of patriarchy,
those who do not give their support or consent are declared deviant and can be
disinherited from the enjoyment of the material resources of their men. Thus the
division between the respectable and the deviant keeps women isolated from each
other. While it may already be divided at the level of classes. In the group of
wealthy men and women of different classes, womens are also rewarded in
another way. Under patriarchal domination the mutual responsibilities of men and
women work like this that in exchange for women's sexual, economic, political and
intellectual subjugation, they are share with men in the power to exploit men and
women of different classes. The common aspects of men and women of a particular
class and the fundamental differences between them, inequalities are highlighted
through simple but highly accurate images in a gender workshop, the village
woman had expressed it very well : In our families the male as a Sun, His light is his
own because he is the owner of the resources. They have income, freedom to move
around and take their own decisions. Women are as a satellites. They are like those
who have no light of their own. They are lighted only when and if sunlight reaches
them. In other words, only if when they follow the system and cater to the needs
of the patriarchs.
Although subjugation of women has been a common feature in almost all
phases of known/documented history and still exists in most parts of the world, but
the level and form of that subordination has been determined by the social and
cultural environment in which women have been kept. Even in South Asia, there
are deep inequalities in patriarchal structures. which are an expression of deep
regional inequalities. Apart from many communities in Kerala, Lakshadweep and
the North East, which are matrilineal (where inheritance passes from mother to

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daughter), many different forms of family and lineage systems are found in the
wider world of patrilinealism. The new feminist discourse has termed the most
widespread form of patriarchy found in many parts of the subcontinent as
Brahminical patriarchy. A very distinctive feature of Hindu society is that even the
sharpest manifestations of social discrimination are legally recognized, in which
women and lower castes are severely oppressed. The relationship between caste
and gender is an important element in the structure of patriarchy in the
subcontinent.
Although female subjugation and control over one's sexuality is a product of
patrilineal inheritance and is prevalent in many places but it is very harshly effective
in South Asia to maintain caste purity. Although initially the caste system was an
exclusive part of Hindu society, it later became quite strong among the Christian
and Muslim communities in the region. Brahminical patriarchy is a set of rules and
institutions in which caste and gender are interconnected and mutually shape each
other, and where the role of women is important in maintaining the boundaries
between castes. The patriarchal rules of this framework ensure that the caste
system can be maintained without violating the caste hierarchy of closed
endogamy. Brahmanical patriarchal laws for women vary according to their caste
groups, with the strictest controls on women's sexuality being found in the upper
castes. The rules and regulations of Brahmanical patriarchy are often derived from
the scriptures, providing an ideological basis especially for the upper castes, but are
also sometimes internalized by the lower castes, especially as that caste aspires to
rise in the social order. Just as hierarchical inequalities characterize the caste
system, hierarchical patriarchies characterize the subordination of women in South
Asia. The control process through which caste and gender hierarchies were
restored in this region was three-tier : The first, instrument was ideology. Women
have assimilated this in the form of faithfulness to their husbands and dutifulness
towards their wives, due to which the aspiration for faithfulness and dutifulness
arises in women. Others, were laws and customs mentioned in scriptures or
regional practice. And the third element was the state itself, both in the early
period and in the recent past. Most effective way of benevolent paternalism of
making women allies in maintaining patriarchal power and caste hierarchy in South
Asia in which obedient women were granted certain special rights and privileges,
giving them an air of protection and respect that sometimes reached the level of

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worship. In the cultural models of Brahmanical patriarchy, Through mythology,
women were socialized in such a way that they started believing in their chastity
and dutifulness for their own salvation. Through the ideology of sacrifice and
passive acceptance, that is, the characteristics of a devoted woman, women started
believing that they were also being refined and they are also gaining special power.
After this, women started believing that there is a different and special power
within them, a superior and spiritual power which can even perform miracles. The
cultural models of paternalism and femininity have completely blurred the idea of
subordination. In this way, it became quite easy for women to cooperate within the
patriarchal structures that dictated women’s lives.
The structure of Brahminical patriarchy, traditional and regional disparities
in patriarchy and paternalism ideologies are today being strongly challenged by the
democratic and egalitarian ideologies and rules and regulations mentioned in the
Constitution. Movements addressing the issues of subjugation of women, their
exploitation within and outside the home, and the oppression they face ‘within the
family’ have started in different parts of India. The women’s movement has
become a dynamic force in the political process, along with other democratic
struggles against caste and movements against other oppressive institutions; It has
also led to a very remarkable feminist studies movement, which has given us an
appropriate vocabulary for the subordination of women and an accurate analysis
of patriarchy.