A closer look: Issues with patriarchy and the modern woman

Throughout our political theory readings, we have briefly touched upon patriarchal society. The belief behind the patriarchy, is that men are the central leaders in society and women take on less fundamental roles, bearing and raising children.

Image found here

A few of the theorists we have read in the course, however, offer different interpretations of the societal hierarchy.

John Stuart Mill, remarkably, was one of the first male feminists of his time. Persuaded by his wife, he wrote an article and book entitled, “The Subjection of Women,” in which he advocated for women to play a more active role in society, which he hoped would allow progress for humanity. In the essay, Mill attacks the “primitive and spontaneous form of society” framed by the paternal. He says society should change the marriage relationship between man and woman, from master and subordinate, to equal partners. While this may have changed in society today, Mill still makes a strong case that the family relationship is key in defining women's role in society.

In fact, there are some societies, with successful women-centric cultures, that reach equality between the men and women. In my Anthropology class last year, we studied the matrilineal system of the Minangkabau people, who live in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The Minangkabau believe the mother-child bond is the most important to society and follow a set of rules which give power to the women regarding village organization, group membership, residence and inheritance of property. The society’s values were constructed in a way different from ours but still dynamic and functioning, allowing for more equal power between the sexes.

An image of a marriage ceremony between Minangkabau. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Following this understanding, Iris Young, in her essay “Throwing Like a Girl,” draws upon existentialism to prove how society itself shapes what men and women experience in the physical world. Instead of the theory of essentialism, which says that women posses a quality that differentiates them from men, Young believes that the structure of society, how men and women are raised, prompts the differences in men and women. Young says that we should move past this old hierarchy that prevents women from playing an active role in society.

But today, promotion of females in society has been put on hold. Since women gained power from the first and second waves of feminism, women are widely seen as equal counterparts to men, with women rising up in corporate jobs (while still being able to have children), as well as more women succeeding in college. Since woman have gained a lot of social power, there has been a surge in the idea of post-modern feminism, an ideology that among many things, supports the sense that since women are “equal” to men, they are free to be overtly feminine and will not be judged or held back in society.

Zooey Deschanel's character in the show "New Girl"
is an example of post-modern feminism,  representing ultra
femininity without worry of being objectified/not being
 taken seriously. Image found here.

In reality, though, women are still not entirely freed by feminist movement, and their femininity is restricting. Young highlights in her article the way the idealization of the female body prevents women from moving up in society:

“Women in sexist society are physically handicapped. Insofar as we learn to live out our existence in accordance with the definition that patriarchal culture assigns to us, we are physically inhibited, confined, positioned, and objectified.”

The Atlantic July/August cover story
"Why Women Can't Have it All."
Image found here.

Over the summer, The Atlantic published a controversial piece about the greatest myth of feminism today, that women can be successful professionally and have a family life. The author, Anne Marie Slaughter, states that feminism says that women can’t have the most successful job, that their male counter parts have, and still have a happy, healthy family life. The article sparked a debate that showed the truth that women today have the illusion that they have the same power in society as men but the truth is that they don’t—either by their own choice, or the demands placed upon them. Women are not equal, and because of the fundamental flaw in society they are prevented from taking a seat at the world’s table of leaders.