Do yo consider the concept of Partriarchy to be useful in the analysis Essay

Do yo consider the concept of Partriarchy to be useful in the analysis of gender relations - Essay Example This ‘battle of the sexes’ is not yet over despite the fact women have already made great strides in almost all areas of endeavour i.e. politics, sports, economy. In fact, women have permeated into areas once the exclusive domain of males. But still, they’re shrugged off as but a small minority. Thus, in so many societies the stereotype ‘woman in the home’ or the ‘childbearing female’ still persist. To many men, it’s still a man’s world. And rightly so, most tycoons are men; majority of presidents and prime ministers and mayors are men; priests, rabbis and imams are all men; most managers and heads of universities and colleges are men and practically most societies are headed by men. And this is so because patriarchy had been institutionalised and usage and accession to it by all parties since time immemorial had made it a social construct. Woman’s lot as the inferior sex and men’s dominance over women can be traced to the moment of creation. In Genesis 1:27, God â€Å"created Adam in His image† (and not her image), thus assigning God the male gender. The creation of Eve was a mere afterthought when God realized that â€Å"it is not good for man to be alone and I will make a helper suitable for him† (Genesis 1:23). Then she was fashioned from one of Adam’s ribs, which made him exclaim â€Å"This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’ for she was taken out of man† (Genesis 1:23). Thus, woman’s bondage to man and the assignation of the natural role of childbearer, homemaker and attendant to man’s every whim and caprice had started. These roles were acutely delineated during the days of the Patriarchs i.e. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David. Patriarchy, in this context, is defined as â€Å"a hierarchical social system and way of thinking where fathers or