Revision summary
Patriarchy is male domination reproduced across household, work, sexuality, and state. Walby: related structures; Connell: gender order. Interpersonally it appears in decision, interruption, violence, and the care bargain. West and Zimmerman: gender as done in interaction. NFHS files record the Indian everyday.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
Patriarchy is a system of male domination over women and of older males over juniors, reproduced in household, work, sexuality, and the state. Sylvia Walby treated it as related structures. It is not only a bad father.
Body
Definition
- Classical sense: rule of the father over the household.
- Feminist sense: a durable gender order that privileges masculinities, after R. W. Connell, and extracts unpaid care, after Ann Oakley.
- Intersection: Dalit and minority women face a compounded patriarchy, not a generic “woman”.
Interpersonal manifestations
- Who interrupts, who decides money, and who fears violence in the home.
- Kandiyoti’s patriarchal bargain: women trade security for deference in everyday talk.
- Doing gender, after Candace West and Don Zimmerman: compliments, care, and sexual double standards in interaction.
- Erving Goffman’s face-work often scripts women as supportive audience.
- Workplace mentoring, jokes, and the second shift at home after paid work.
Indian files
- NFHS on decision-making, mobility, and spousal violence.
- Kin talk that polices a daughter-in-law’s voice more than a son’s.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD PAT[Patriarchy system] --> H[Household] PAT --> W[Paid work] PAT --> INT[Interpersonal talk violence care] INT --> B[Bargain and doing gender]
Conclusion
Patriarchy is a structured gender order, not a single tyrant. It shows in who speaks, who cares, who pays, and who is safe. Walby, Oakley, and interactionist work link the system to those everyday scenes.
Quick related
Students also ask
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According to Marx, how are human beings alienated from their human potential and what does he suggest to change this?
Next question on this syllabus topic (2018 · Q4(a)). View answer →
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Can men be victims of patriarchy?
Rigid masculinities harm men too. The system still privileges male control of resources and women.
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Is a loving family free of patriarchy?
Affection can coexist with unequal voice and unpaid care.
Same topic · past papers
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2016 · Q3(a) · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
Analyze the manifest and latent functions of 'security of the tenure of bureaucrats' in the light of Merton's theory.
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