patriarchy

• Patriarchy is the term used to describe the society which is characterised by current and historic unequal power relations between women and men whereby women are systematically disadvantaged and oppressed.
• noticeable in women’s under-representation in key state institutions, in decision-making positions and in employment and industry.
• Women in minority groups face multiple oppressions in this society, as race, class and sexuality intersect with sexism
• feminists use the concept of ‘patriarchy’ to describe the oppressive power relationship between men and women. Patriarchy is therefore, a social construct, not a natural condition. Women’s movements therefore seek liberation from patriarchy by various means ranging from specific political campaigns, such as demand for liberal abortion laws, to ‘consciousness-raising’ by debate, discussion and publications, or simply ‘living the future’ – adopting a ‘liberated’ lifestyle and related values and sharing these with the ‘sisterhood’.
• patriarchy means rule by men
• Millett (1970) for instance, described ‘patriarchal government’ as an institution whereby ‘that half of the populace which is female is controlled by that half which is male’. She suggested that patriarchy contains two principles: ‘male shall dominate female, elder male shall dominate younger’
• Simone de Beauvoir argued that only man has the freedom to choose and set himself up as essential and subject. In contrast, women are both inessential and object