Question B:
Outline and assess the view that patriarchy is the main cause of gender inequality. (40)
Patriarchy being the main cause of gender inequality is a view mostly held by feminists, especially radical feminists since they believe that patriarchy in our society is the main reason why women are oppressed and exploited by men. Feminists believe that women are unequal to men, and as a result society benefits men whilst exploiting women. They believe that gender inequality is socially constructed, an example being gender roles; these are taught to children at very young ages and encourage inequalities to become part of society’s norms, for example it is frowned upon for boys to play with dolls or teddies and girls to construct or be interested in cars or mechanical toys. The different type of feminists believe different reasons for gender inequality, there are liberal, radical, Marxist and postmodern feminists, radical are arguably the most extreme and controversial feminist group. Radical feminist believe patriarchy has been pushed so much into society that is makes it accepted, this results in the unequal gender inequality for women. An example of one would be Firestone 1971. She believed that males control females through them being able to reproduce and child rearing.
We must reject other attributes said to be naturally feminine, like the ability to care for babies, change their nappies, nurse them when they are sick, oversee their development and education etc. These things, men are just as capable or performing. This vulnerability must have played a part in their subjection.
People in society are taught male patriarchy through education, male dominance is enforced and a masculine view of the world is presented to children, this is shown through the gendered subjects and the teacher treatment of male and female students, even though there are more likely to have females as teachers we tend to see more