Is Patriarchy Good or Evil?

“Men were born to lead”

On the above is a typical patriarchal quote which is to show the superiority of the men in leading. Believe it or not, this quote might be offensive and disturbing to a few parties. Some of us support patriarchy, whilst others are against it, typically the feminists, there are hoi polloi who are noncommittal.

However, it does not matter which group we are in understanding patriarchy, but the main question is, do we really know what patriarchy is? A person cannot simply support or stand against an ideology without understanding what the ideology is, however, there are people who pathetically operate like this. In order to define whether patriarchy is good or evil, it depends on the depth of comprehension and mastery of a person regarding this ideology as well as the ability to connect the ideology with the endeavour to serve the whole society positively.

Lexically, patriarchy is defined as a system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is reckoned through the male line. As this might be a modest lexical definition, there is another definition from Oxford Dictionary which says “a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.” The word “excluded’ in the second definition corroborates that women are oppressed as they are being left out by the opposite gender. This belief of women’s oppression is substantiated by another definition made by one of the world’s most famous feminist movements, London Feminist Network (LFN). On the website of the LFN, they define patriarchy as the society we are living in, which is characterized by current and historic unequal power relations between women and men whereby women are systematically disadvantaged and oppressed. The LFN also accentuates the oppressions, which they claim are affecting the women, such as male violence against female and women’s under-representation in key state institutions. While all these claims are depressingly unerring, is it fair for patriarchy to be blamed exclusively? Is there only evil in this ideology without any good?

Patriarchy has existed since the era of the Neanderthals where the men were the leaders who would be protective in safeguarding the well-being of their own tribe. Regardless of the people’s agreement, to protect a tribe means to fight the adversaries and in order to win a fight, an individual has to have a good physique, be it on speed or strength. This is supported by Heidi Miller, a Licensed Dietitian from Philadelphia, which in her article in StudyHealth.com said that men’s physique is 30% stronger and tougher than women’s which enable them to endure bigger physical forces. Fair to be said, it is patriarchy that forges responsible males. Invented by the mother nature, it is the natural disposition of the men to become a responsible leader. The idea of making women are as equal as the men, with all respect, might result in a larger number of impetuous and imprudent men which will be a catastrophe to our world and society. As momentous as it might be, it is crucial for the society to be cognizant of the possible calamities if the ecology is being muddled. To make things clearer, let us be mindful of the fact that the extinction of wolves in Yellowstone has atrociously affected the ecology of Yellowstone. The exact same predicament like Yellowstone’s, though in a different context, will happen to our society if the nature’s ecology is disrupted. However, in our modern days, patriarchy is not only about the physical strength, but mental strength and intelligence in diplomacy and leadership.

As a matter of fact, it is the ideology and implementation of patriarchy that make women valued for their unique contributions to the society. To be honest, leadership is a burden which might be fatal if an individual does not acquire the skills and abilities of becoming a leader. A leader, regardless of the organization being led, will encounter innumerable turmoil which will result in an onerous life. In patriarchy, men are willing to face the mayhem of leadership and exerting all the pressure for the convenience of the society, especially the women. Let us take a quick glance to the year of 480 B.C when King Leonidas of Sparta led his brave 300 Spartan men and 7000 Greek men to stand against the tyrannical Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae (History Channel, 2009). The battle was won by the Persians and all Spartans and Greeks died, but the main point to be highlighted is the act of valour of the men in safeguarding not just Greece, but the people of Greece, including women. The men are willing to die in order to assure the sustenance of their society. In the Battle of Thermopylae, even the king was involved and died in the war; that is the burden of the leadership. For the modern era, the burden of leadership is conspicuously affecting the presidency of Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States of America. In ensuring the national security of Americans and their homeland, there are a few orders and decisions of Trump that have him callously bombarded with criticisms not just from his fellow Americans, but the world. Do women still think the burden of leadership is a type of enjoyment worth to be shared? I believe not.

In addition, patriarchy is there to entrenching the interdependency of both genders, men and women. Contradicts to the ideology of feminism, patriarchy divides the roles of males and females, which both genders have their remarkable objectives for the sake of the society. For instance, the males are obliged to serve and protect their family, specifically, and the society generally. Meanwhile, the obligations of the females are to assist and support their spouse, as well as nurturing the children in preparing them to become future leaders. With respect to feminism, even though homo sapiens is able to live independently, but interdependency fulfils the life emptiness. However, all the beauties of patriarchy may be achieved if and only if gender honesty and justice are being executed in the society.

The main stumbling block of patriarchy is that men tend to be corrupted by the power and position granted to them. Since the creation of time, wars have occurred due to the greediness of men to rule. The German Nazi Party, under the reign of Adolf Hitler, has made the Second World War to occur when German Soldiers invaded Westerplatte in Poland, on 7th September 1939 (Brent, 2017). The same thing happened in Iraq on 19th March 2013 when the American Army, under the presidency of George W. Bush, started invading Iraq. Even though Bush’s regime claimed the invasion was to destroy the nuclear weapon possessed by the authority of Iraq, the world knows the invasion is due to Bush’s greed to take control and make profit from the most valuable resource of Iraq, the oil reserves which are the world’s second largest at the time of the invasion. All of the wars occurred throughout the history are nothing but the covetous act of men.

Another stumbling block of patriarchy is the downgrading of women. Since the medieval era, women have been regarded as the second class gender compared to men. In some cultures, for example the Arabs before the birth of Islam, women are often condemned of bringing misfortune to the family and society. Furthermore, a frightfully disturbing tradition was practiced by the Arabs where female infants were killed in order to avoid woes. Back in Europe during the medieval era, women were often stereotyped as the symbol of sex, thus the establishment of abundant brothels. This is supported by C. Dale Brittain, a medieval historian, which in one of her writings, she mentioned that prostitution started to grow with the growth of the medieval cities after the breakdown of Roman urban civilization.

The corruptions of men under the name of patriarchy have sparked the feminism fire to ablaze in the search of justice. With tonnes of respect for the effort, both genders will not and will never sustain independently. Interdependency is the essential essence in assuring the continuity of the human species. However, domination from either gender will not be considered as interdependency but oppression. Men have to stop from downgrading women and start acting like honourable men by protecting and serving the society generally, and women specifically, with just. On top of that, men have to obey to their obligations, ordered by mother nature, which are to become responsible males and to value the women who are the source of the birth of mankind. If these two obligations could be obliged, the world can erase the words of patriarchy and feminism from the dictionary for eternity and start uttering and practicing the word unity. All in all, the unity of patriarchy and feminism will make our world a better place to live with the abundance of respect, love and affection to everyone. Are you still not certain whether patriarchy is good or evil? Rethink, reconsider and redefine.

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