Patriarchy

Patriarchy in the Family

Familial patriarchy is perhaps the most well known. Patriarchal families are organized around a male head of household. In patriarchal families, men have more power and authority than women. Their influence may include control over decisions made within the family, the allocation of resources, household duties, and marriage and childrearing practices. Although patriarchy refers literally to the rule of the father, patriarchal authority extends to other males in the household.

Patriarchal families are often patrilineal, meaning that the family line descends through the man's side. In patrilineal families, money, class status, property, and wives and children may be passed from male relative to male relative, with women and girls excluded from inheritance rights or allowed to inherit only in the absence of male heirs. Patrilinearity is also visible in the custom of women taking their husband's name upon marriage. The family name descends through the men, while the women are incorporated under the husband's family identity. Even when women retain their own names upon marriage, the children often assume the father's last name.

The multiple forms of social organization linked to patriarchy institutionalize male power over women and contribute to women's oppression. Familial patriarchy has been linked to men's abuse of women in research on violence in married, unmarried, divorced, and separated couples. Patriarchy in the family is also related to violence by male relatives against female relatives, such as in acid attacks, dowry related violence, and so-called honor killings. These forms of violence use women to negotiate men's status relative to one another. In this sense, women are instrumental to men's relationships with one another rather than valued as distinct entities with the same rights and freedoms as men.

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