PATRIARCHY IS A SIN OR GOD’S WILL?

WHAT IS PATRIARCHY?

In layman’s language, the term ‘patriarchy’ refers to the social system where male holds a dominant position with respect to moral authority and political leadership. It is a male dominant society where male considers himself to be the ultimate decision making authority and assumes supremacy in social, economic and moral spectrum.

‘Patriarchy’ literally means “Rule of the Father” where men are dominant over women in all aspects of the society. However, it should be noted that this concept of patriarchy did not exist in history due to the notion that ‘male supremacy’ itself was sufficient and fulfilling.

WHAT IS PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY?

The society where patriarchy exists is Patriarchal society. It is male dominant society where men are economically and socially empowered to take decisions and at the same time entitled to inheritance of property. Nowadays, it is well known concept and possess everyday resonance. There are number of factors that defines a patriarchal system and the prevailing culture of such system which are as follows-

MALE DOMINANCE	The hold position of power and authority and are superior in all aspects of society
MALE CENTREDNESS	Male are the heroes in every situation and centre of social arrangement
MALE IDENTIFICATION	Male creates standards relating to strength, working ethics, competitiveness and so on in order to define ‘manly’ someone.
DUALISTIC ROLES	In patriarchal system, men and women are deemed to have their own specific roles
OBSESSION WITH THE CONTROL	Men always hold themselves in position of control and are obsessed with the same

 

HISTORY OF PATRAIRCHAL SOCIETY-

In human history, the societies were not patriarchal rather a degree of built-in egalitarianism and unbiased. One of the schools of thought argued that patriarchy emerged around 12,000 years ago with the development of homesteading and agriculture. But as soon as people began settling down and started acquiring resources, the power subsequently shifted to males which were physically strong. Therefore, the earlier patriarchy began around 6 millenniums ago.

As I told earlier that the notion of male supremacy was self fulfilling and the writings of men for the benefit of society were considered as law, literature, history and scientific texts as well.

The patriarchal nature of society is not natural but rather evolved through ‘gradual institutionalization’ which aimed at strengthening the dominance of male over female along with oppression and exclusion. It developed a set of practices, mechanisms and beliefs with respect to distribution of resources and societal structures within the patriarchal spectrum.

The concept of patriarchy evolved through inequalities at the level of law and state. The nature of cultural norms and traditions were patriarchal and as a result, the patriarchy seemed to be gender exclusive. Today, patriarchal culture and male centeredness persist all around the world and has become one of the biggest barriers in ending the ferocity against women.

PATRIARCHAL CULTURE IN INDIA-

Patriarchy is a rule rather than a exception in global context. However, Indian society is one of the surprising patriarchal societies.

Status of Women in India-

·       Women are denied growth opportunities in name of religion and socio-cultural practices

·       Women hold unequal status in society

·       Due to low standing of women, crimes such as rape, murder, dowry, burning, wife beating and discrimination are common

·       Girls are viewed less valuable than boys and so left uneducated

However, many protests movements within the Hindu fold have been initiated to improve the women status in the society.

Exploitation of Women-

Women have been exploited and have been victim o torture and utmost humiliation. Due to pre dominance of men, women life lies between pleasure at one end and danger at the other end.

Violence & Educational Deprivation-.

Being the feature of patriarchal society, gender stereotypes in family and society has shown preference for male child and considered to be means of social security. In addition to this thought, the literacy state of women is much lower than men. The male literacy rate is 15% higher than the women literacy rate.

However, in India after the independence, an initiation like ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ is remarkable step to fulfill needs and aspirations of girl child. Further, a National Commission for Women was set up to act as a watchdog on the women issues in 1992.  Also, various laws were enacted to empower women and upheld their position in the society. They are provided with legal and constitutional rights. Some of the rights include right to be free from violence, discrimination  and slavery, right to be educated, right to vote, right to own a property, right to earn equal and fair wages and so on.

PATRIARCHY IS A SIN OR GOD’S WILL?

I understand that the society where women are treated as inferior or are discriminated and have been victim of exclusion and oppression, that cannot be the will of God. The gender hierarchy and gender stereotyping is not a command of god but rather a sin and imprecation.

I feel that patriarchy punishes women for profanity and obscenity because it wants us to remain within the male dominant sphere. It wants us to remain within the straitjacket and fetter of politeness and niceness despite the violence to which women are subject to.

Undoubtedly it is a curse for Indian Society and not the God’s will as men and women are not fighting on the equal battlefield. We should choose the path of determination so as to reject profanity that lessens or reduces feminity and insults feminity.

 

HOW TO END PATRIARCHAL SYSTEM?

The system of patriarchy has been going on for countless generations and it will take much more to end such structure of society. Following are some of the suggested footsteps that can be taken-

·       We should hold men accountable for their aggressive behavior rather than compelling women to tolerate their aggression. Men should taught to be generous and respectful while interacting with women

·       We should focus on creating a non-discriminatory culture where there is no place for gender paradigms and where both men and women are free to express their thoughts

·       We should change our approach towards having traditional nuclear family where man of the house is mostly dominant. We should learn to accept any form of traditional family and at the same time we should challenge the traditionalistic form of nuclear families.

·       We should challenge media who degrades women and showcase the masculine power of man. We should make media to put an end on representation of women in an unconventional way.

 

GURNEET KAUR

BBA LLB (H)

ICFAI UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN

EMAIL- gurneetkaur53@gmail.com

 

 Disclaimer: This article is the personal opinion of the author. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any Indian Government or any other Government of the world.