Sociology

Patriarchy is a social way of life where male dominance in the affairs of a specific setting is practiced. The setting might involve heading a family, a group of people or even a region. In the ancient age, the patriarchal society looked upon fathers as the ultimate bread winners in a family. As such, issues that revolved around the running of the family were left to the man while the woman was largely assumed to be taking care of domestic chores. In settings such as villages, only men were allowed to be the heads. The leadership role that has been laid squarely on mens shoulders by the ancient society was mainly due to the perception that males are the stronger sex. As it stands now, the patriarchal society is facing a lot of opposition from several quarters one being the feminist society. Research shows that patriarchy is the root cause of domestic violence in the family set up. Psychologists are also coming up with evidence to show that most violent set ups like war situations are mainly stirred-up by patriarchy (Biaggi 1) (The Rule of Mars Readings on the Origins, History and Impact of Patriarchy 1). Empirical evidence shows that in patriarchal societies, the rate of population growth is more stable than in neutral or matriarchal societies.

The impacts of patriarchy are very evident worldwide as so many aspects have shown. Leadership roles are mainly left for men. For instance, there are slim chances that a woman might lead a world power like America soon. In as much as we are slowly moving towards a society where more women are taking up jobs that were largely considered to be for males, the rate is slower than anticipated. Socialist states have been blamed for heavy inclination towards patriarchal tendencies. A huge part of the Asian, African and Eastern Europe societies are viewed as socialist. This is an explanation to the higher evidence of oppression of women in these regions. In conclusion, patriarchy has generally impacted negatively on the society as a whole. The notion of male dominance has denied women a chance to exploit opportunities as much as men. As such, equal opportunities have not been offered to women even in the Western civilizations.