Are We Still Living In a Patriarchy
An in depth look at how we know
Some people seem to be under the impression that patriarchy is a term that was made up by feminists to demonize men. Although many feminists do use that word to speak of the systemic inequality that women still suffer in our culture, it actually means something very specific beyond that, something that is much more than a power imbalance between men and women.
I’ve heard more than one man challenge the fact that we even still have a patriarchy. After all, women can vote, and they have the same legal rights as men. Heck, a woman is the Vice President of the United States. But that’s about as reasonable a metric as saying that we no longer have any racism in the US because Blacks can vote and have the same legal rights as Whites. A Black man was elected President a while back — twice, and racism still very clearly exists.
Beyond the equal legal rights of women (and Blacks, which are only about 50 years old), patriarchy has other components with very specific elements. We are still living in a patriarchy because those components are overwhelmingly in effect — both the ones that relate to the state of things between men and women, as well as other elements. Before we look at how patriarchy still exists, we need to get on the same page about what it truly is.
