more on patriarchy

This week, I decided to do a little bit more research on patriarchy since many people in the class had never really seen the word before. A Patriarchy, in general, is a social system in which the male gender role has the primary authority and governs social organization. In patriarchal societies men hold authority over women, children and property. Because it stands for the institutes of male power and privilege it allows for gender inequality and female subordination. Patriarchy has not only been used socially but it has also been represented legally, politically and economically. Despite that our own society has moved towards a more egalitarian social system, I still believe that we are very much governed in patriarchal ways.  From a feminist perspective, patriarchy is an unjust social system that is oppressive to all women. Carole Pateman, a feminist political theorist has explained "The patriarchal construction of the difference between masculinity and femininity is the political difference between freedom and subjection". If women want to have the freedom to have power and be successful they need to first realize the inequalities that lie within a patriarchal society. Despite that currently more women are working in (originally male) positions, they are still being paid less on the dolar because they are females, thus continuing this idea that men are given more power in society and thus have the ability to control and dominate women. There is currently no single answer for why patriarchy has become such a popular social system, however there have been multiple theories. Sociologists believe that social and cultural conditioning is partially responsible for establishing male and female gender roles. According to sociological theory, patriarchy is the result of sociological constructions that are passed down from generation to generation. However another opinion is that social behavior is primarily determined by genetics, and patriarchy arises as a result of inherent biology rather than social conditioning. It is important that society is studied in order to determine the explanation for the existence of patriarchy so we can find a way to end it and thus begin to work towards a solution for female oppression and gender inequality.