Patriarchy Is the Root of Gender Inequalities

Many feminist argue that patriarchy is the root of gender inequalities in the world. There are many formal definition of the term “patriarchy”, in general, patriarchy is a social construct in which masculine qualities are valued more than feminine qualities. Traditionally, patriarchy is explained in terms of the household. That is, a woman is limited to the household tasks, and her husband is the head of the house who determines how much freedom the wife has within the house. In this paper I argue that even when the private patriarchy is not visible, or none existing, the public patriarchy still limits female abilities compared to their male counterparts. I define public patriarchy as women’s ability to access the public sphere (employment outside of the house, education, religious institutions) where they are still inferior to men due to the societal structure. In order to support my argument, I will rely on the works of Lynne Haney “Homeboys, Babies, Men in Suits: The State and the Reproduction of Male Dominance”, Lourdes Portillo “Senorita Extraviada: Missing Young Woman”, and Cecilia Menjivar ``Corporeal Dimensions of Gender Violence: Woman`s Self and Body``.
The outline of this paper will be the following: first I will outline the main argument, historical contexts and theoretical traditions of each article individually. Next I shall compare and contrast author`s perspectives on the issue of the patriarchy. Lastly, I will provide a conclusion where my argument will be reinstated.
Lynne Haney criticizes the traditional approach to how feminists see the interaction between the state and women. In Haney`s view, the state is composed of multiple smaller components each of which has a unique way of dealing with women. Specifically she analyzes that the juvenile system has a coercive and a permissive arms simultaneously. The coercive arm organizations are concerned with the notion of public patriarchy. These institutions try to teach the women to be independent