Patriarchy

The word patriarchy originally comes from the Greek and means ” government of the fathers “, άρχειν Árkhein, which means to command , and πατήρ patḗr, which means father . This referred mainly to the government exercised by parents within families and the power they exercised over the female sex. It is a form of society in which all the authority found in it is exercised through the man or head of the house, who is called the patriarch . This definition can be extended to all types of organizations in the social sphere in which an imbalance between men and women can be observed, in which there is benefit for the former. Is aunequal distribution of power in which many aspects are in doubt, for example, voting prohibition, gender violence, child custody and sexism. The first families in the world, the Hebrews , were patriarchs . It is a concept used primarily by social sciences, anthropology, and feminist studies . It always makes a reference to the aspects of inequality of power between men and women.

Etymology of patriarchy

Of Greek origin, the word patriarchy refers to the heads of the Hebrew families who first settled on earth . After this stage, the early Christian church became an important part and to date, many churches in the world continue to use this word when they need to designate a group belonging to it and that is of utmost importance. The power that exists within the patriarchy may have divine or family origin or it may be founded based on wills, but in all these models, man will always have total dominance.. In anthropology, the word has three different criteria: filiation, which is related to descent; authority and the post-nuptial place. The debates that already existed on this topic occurred throughout different times, but were mostly taken up in the 20th century, and the one in charge of speaking and exposing the issue again was the feminist movement during the sixties, looking for a way to explain the oppression and domination that existed against women.

History of the patriarchy

It is known that the traditional societies of the 19th and 20th centuries show great inequality between the individuals that make up the society. Since ancient times, work was mostly destined for men while women stayed at home.  Men were engaged in hunting and women in cooking food. The story goes back to the time when horticultural and livestock societies gave more power to men and women were degraded. For the men of the time it was more convenient for women to dedicate themselves to exclusive motherhood and in this way, they were degraded to an almost sub-human condition. Some Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures They have many differences in how the woman should be considered because for them, she should have had more power

Characteristics of the patriarchy

• Patriarchy is made up of customs, traditions, attitudes, family norms and habits, and its teaching and learning ensure its transmission from generation to generation.
• He defines sexual roles and stereotypes through his ideology and makes them seem natural and general.
• It has been presented over time in different places and at different times.
• Women, both adults and girls, are at all times exposed to different types of patriarchal oppression.
• Patriarchy was the first structure that exercised domination over a woman in history and today it continues to be the most powerful when it comes to inequality.
• Within the patriarchal society, male monotheistic religions such as Judaism and Islam are born , which support discriminatory structures against women.
• Patriarchy gives ideological support to the macho man and his discriminatory customs.
• It is hierarchically discriminatory with women.
• It is the support ideas for the thoughts involved in macho societies.
• For the patriarchs, women have no legal personality or soul. You must be a submissive woman to be considered a good woman. She must obey her husband or father who is the one who makes the decisions for her and lives under his guardianship.
• When the woman does not meet all these requirements, she is considered as insubordinate or sinful and is then subjected to exclusion and humiliation, in some parts of the world, even murder.