By: Muhammad Shahbaz Rajper
Patriarchy is defined as a male-dominant society, but it is dealt by feminists as man-dominated society which they want to change. There is a difference between the two terms that needs to be taken care of. Gender Equality is not about the incorporation of women or overcoming the sex-imbalance rather it is about the gender imbalance. The difference between sex and gender also has a major role in defining feminism. Feminism is not about becoming man or excluding man from the society rather it is about incorporation of female values into the society, it is about creating a gender balance. This article focuses on defining the differences among the above-mentioned terms and identify the flaws in the feminists’ approach towards patriarchy.
Before understanding the patriarchal notions and myths in it, it is essential to differentiate between sex and gender, man, and male. Sex is defined as the biological understanding or identification of a human being; it is about its physical and biological appearance. Whereas gender is about the characteristics, behaviors and notions attached to a particular sex, e.g., male or female, by the society, for example, the association of names to sex, calling a girl by the name of James is socially unacceptable, because of the notions of gender attached to it. In this way, male-dominance is about the dominance of characteristics or notions attached to man instead of the domination of man itself.
It has been observed that feminist consider women incorporation into the society as the solution or answer to patriarchy. Whereas, it has been witnessed in the past, that women are expected to perform the characteristics associated to men to get legitimacy in society. Women are considering it their success against patriarchy by becoming men or performing manly acts. But this is a myth of patriarchy set by some feminists which is eventually adding to the power of patriarchy, instead the actual answer to patriarchy is the incorporation of female, it is about the incorporation of matriarchal notions into the society.
Gender equality has been a popular phenomenon from the 20th century. But how gender equality is defined is open to criticism. It is not about balancing the ratio between men and women in the society, rather it is about the creation of a society where neither patriarchal nor matriarchal notions have dominance, rather the incorporation of both, leading towards a society having gender equality.
Patriarchy is not sex-oriented, it is always gender-oriented. Through this, if a woman is expected to behave with characteristics of a male, then, it is not fighting against the patriarchy but becoming a part of it. A lot of problems exist in the society, in workplaces, family, relationships, and even at bureaucratic and leadership level because of this myth created by feminists that patriarchy would only be abolished by the incorporation of women in a manner where they perform and act exactly like her opposite gender.
Men are considered as more aggressive, brutal, and warmongers, whereas women are considered as polite, diplomatic, nurturing, and peace-loving that’s why they are not expected to wage a war. Whereas, according to a study by WION (The World in One News), women have waged more wars, starting from Queen Elizabeth I who began the largest empire of the world, colonizing several countries and killing several innocent dwellers, followed by Margaret Thatcher who declared war against Argentina, Golda Meir took Israel to war against Arab Coalition and many more such examples exist in the history.
Some Scholars argue that such events show that matriarchal notions at the leadership role are flawed and failure. But, if you investigate their behaviors, there were no matriarchal characteristics or norms in their practices, but they were completely based on patriarchal actions. Hence, though there were women at the leadership level, the condition of women incorporation completed but there were not any matriarchal notions attached to them. To conclude, there is a need to explain the difference between sex and gender, male vs man, and female vs woman, before understanding the patriarchy and matriarchy. This article shows that sex is only the biological or physical orientation of a human being, whereas gender is a socially constructed notion that associate certain behaviors and characteristics to a particular sex. The myth created in the society is that patriarchy can be abolished by the incorporation of women in the system and society which is not true, it should be the incorporation of female with its associated behaviors, characteristics, and actions. If a woman is expected to act same as a male than she is adding to patriarchy. The solution to patriarchy is not either its abolishment or incorporation of women, but the solution is balancing patriarchy with matriarchy.
The Author is an undergraduate student of International Relations at National Defence University Islamabad