Patriarchy Role In Society

Patriarchy has been present since the beginning of civilization and has lasted for thousands of years. Throughout the Classical, Medieval, Early Modern and Modern eras, patriarchy has been growing and men have continued to increase their show of dominance over women. However, in more recent years, more women have stepped up and their voices are starting to be heard. Women can vote, women can have jobs, women can be elected, women can be strong, women can rally, women can speak up, women can be anything a man can. Patriarchy does remain today, but it’s not as intense as it was, and we are improving, but we need to get better. In early hunter-gatherer societies, women were, for the most part, equal to men. Women were the gatherers while men

Men used religion to justify their power over women, just as many rulers used divine right to justify their power over a region. Laws were made against women, and in many societies men held absolute control over women. In Roman society, men literally had the power of deciding life or death for their wives and daughters. Women’s lives became more restricted and devoted to pleasing a man. Confucianist views in China pointed out unequal relationships, a huge one being that men were superior to women. Men were connected with heaven and godliness, and so women being subordinate was instilled in the universe itself for those living in Classical China. Ban Zhao wrote about a women’s role by saying, “Let a woman modestly yield to others”. She said that girls must be educated “not because they were equal to boys, but so that a young woman might be better prepared to serve her husband. Education for boys, on the other hand, enabled them to more effectively control their wives” (Strayer and Nelson…). Hinduism was also strictly patriarchal. Their religious law, the Laws of Manu, states, “A virtuous wife should constantly serve her husband like a god...In childhood a female must be subject to her father; in youth to her husband; when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent” (Strayer and Nelson…). In Christianity women were excluded from priesthood and leading the Church, resulting in men being in charge. Again, in the Muslim Quran, it reads, “Men have authority over women because Allah has made one superior to the other...Good women are obedient” (Strayer and Nelson…). Strict religious and social rules restricted women and gave men the power of their