How the Patriarchy All Started: A Deep Dive Into Human History and How it Held on For so Long

Throughout history, there are beliefs and systems that we have long let go of and learnt from. For example, incest between royal family members were left in the past. We stopped practicing lobotomy because of its controversial results. People stopped believing that the earth is flat. In short, we have changed so much from where we were centuries ago. We have let go of these beliefs because not only were they proving to be untrue nor beneficial, some of them were doing more harm than good. 

Sadly, as a humanity, we have failed to eradicate the patriarchy in our social system. 

So, where did the patriarchy start? Debunking a common myth, patriarchy wasn’t always there. It wasn’t a “default belief system”  in the minds of our ancestors as a  “survival instinct”. For example, many people believe that in our foraging times, the hunter-gatherer roles were strictly assigned by gender. Men go out and hunt, while the women take the easier work of gathering fruit and taking care of the offspring, right? Anthropologists believe that this is wrong. According to biological anthropologist Sarah Lacy, this was not the case. Along with her colleague Cara Ocobock, they studied the anatomy of the prehistoric humans in the paleolithic era, and found out that there was no difference between the trauma pattern between men and women, which means that they were doing the same activities. If men kept to hunting and women kept to gathering, it would have made a noticeable difference in physical trauma patterns.

Apart from this, there is much evidence suggesting that men and women were  seen as an equal in prehistoric times. There have been hunting tools found in the tombs of female remains. Oestrogen has been proven to boost athletic endurance, along with the type 1 muscle mainly found in females. They were egalitarian societies, focused on the fair division of work and resources. It wasn’t until when humans shifted to a more agricultural way of living (also called the agricultural revolution), that scientists first discovered the first “inklings” of patriarchy. Men were seen more in cave paintings, depicted in war and hunting scenes, and were often performing acts of violence more than women. There was also an unnatural number of male remains in the neolithic period, which scientists believe that it might be because women and children didn’t have the same burial rights as men.

Why is this? It’s tempting to assume that this is because men work in the fields more than women, because women stay at home to take care of the children. This was not the case, as both men and women participated in equal agricultural tasks, evidence shows. They acquired great upper body strength needed for digging, hoeing, tilling, and grinding grain. Prehistoric women were even found to surpass elite female athletes today in terms of arm strength. So if that’s not the case, what is?

The patriarchy was built brick by brick. And they built it fast. It’s hard to believe that all of this started small. But that’s how social beliefs work. If one generation subtly suggests or sees that men could be better than women in leading, based on an experience, then the following generation would then openly suggest it. The next would now start to underestimate women, and the fourth generation would now start to forbid women from being leaders. This continued on until the fiftieth generation (aka Middle Assyria, 1250 BCE) decided that it was legally (and socially) acceptable for a husband to whip, pluck out the hair, and mutilate the ears of their wives.

Experts believe that the patriarchy was slowly introduced because of the accumulation of wealth and resources, which triggered a few factors: the system of inheritance, which meant that the land and livestock was passed down to sons. This was to ensure that the man would accumulate wealth for his family, since it was usual back then for a man to have multiple wives to further increase reproduction. Because if you wanted to multiply quickly, then it would make sense to lean more onto polygyny rather than polyandry, since a man having four wives would produce more babies than a woman having four husbands.

A second factor was that even with crops and livestock, the rise of the population introduced raids between different tribes and groups, which resulted in men taking on the role in combat and warfare when needed. The type 2 muscle mainly found in men was meant for short, high intensity power needed for striking, hitting and punching, as opposed to the type 1 muscle or “slow-twitch” muscle mentioned earlier.

With the rise of the population, it was now harder to maintain an egalitarian society. People started forming and appointing leaders, particularly people who have done something good for the population (i. e. winners in warfare, the richest, who owned the biggest land, etc.) which were dominantly men.

Marija Gimbutas shares a different perspective. In her book ‘The Living Goddesses’, she introduced the idea of matriarchal groups being conquered by patriarchal groups or dominant cultures, as she calls it. The theory is that as groups multiplied, societies started to form, all with their different beliefs. The Old Europeans were slowly invaded and replaced by the highly patriarchal Indo-European people, until they adapted those beliefs themselves too.

It only gets worse from here. As matriarchal societies started to dwindle in size, patriarchal societies evolved. I guess you could guess what happened next. Eventually they rejected our right to study alongside men until the 19th century. Most cultures don’t allow women to be a ruler. Child brides, even today, are still prevalent in many African countries, along with Bangladesh, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Women’s work may not be taken seriously unless published under a man’s name. Afghan women may be denied their rights. The 1950’s. Domestic and sexual violence against women. The gender pay gap. Pink tax. 

Most forms of the patriarchy today aren’t loud, as many countries now offer equal rights for everyone.  The problem with patriarchy and how it held on so long is, because while new laws are being made for women, the people themselves don’t embody the laws as part of their beliefs and values. This prevents real change. 

Today’s patriarchy is quiet. You can notice it in the undertones of phrases said to young kids, implying that femininity is weak and it was meant to be taken as an insult. Phrases like:
“You throw/run like a girl.”
“Don’t be scared, be a man.”
“You're crying like a little girl.”

You can find it in the assumptions of people about gender, specifically in careers. Businessmen are always assumed and portrayed by, well, men. So are firefighters, CEOs, police officers, and lawyers. The more “dominant” positions are almost always assumed to be a man. 

The patriarchy is making itself seen though the media, by promoting “alpha male content” that focuses on emotional deprivation, aggression to women, asserting dominance, and promoting greed for power and control, which can lead them to perform more hate crimes against women. Some movies and music also contribute to the objectification of women.

The purpose of this article is to inform you that, whilst it is dangerous, the patriarchy is not natural. It’s a toxic belief system that we can get rid of with enough determination and collaboration.

 

SOURCES:

Challenging prehistoric gender roles: Research finds that women were hunters, too: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231020145921.htm
Gender inequality arose 8000 years ago:

https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/gender-inequality-arose-8000-years-ago/0-years-ago/

Unsung Heroes: Women’s Role in the Agricultural Revolution: https://historyguild.org/unsung-heroes-womens-role-in-the-agricultural-revolution/?srsltid=AfmBOoqv-sU9Un67zW22Zkh3A9ksY1ZL1ZVxubdmm_bQYfSj98EwYWyD

Why Patriarchy Persists (and How We Can Change It): https://organizingchange.org/patriarchy-persists-can-change/

Where Did Patriarchy Come From?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAqVPlS1Q-s

31. The Middle Assyrian law-book about women: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781614512639-033/html?lang=en&srsltid=AfmBOorKzadp5FClP8ubjXCMUX-Ge6EvOAQ3zdKFC2s10T042_20dVU8

Analysis: How did the patriarchy start – and will evolution get rid of it?:

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/sep/analysis-how-did-patriarchy-start-and-will-evolution-get-rid-it

Is Male Dominance in our DNA?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkPuvRc83gg

Child marriage atlas: https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/learning-resources/child-marriage-atlas/atlas/

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