What’s the history and future of the patriarchy?

How did the patriarchy come into being? And is it on its way out? This article on The Conversation states that patriarchy hasn’t always been around and may in fact end – but we have to stay vigilant, seeing recent events as the overturning of Roe vs Wade or the rise of the Taliban.

“The status of women has been a long-standing point of interest in anthropology. Contrary to common belief, research shows that the patriarchy isn’t some kind of “natural order of things” – it hasn’t always been prevalent and may in fact disappear eventually. Hunter-gatherer communities may have been relatively egalitarian, at least compared to some of the regimes that followed. And female leaders and matriarchal societies have always existed.

Male wealth

Reproduction is the currency of evolution. But it is not only our bodies and brains that evolve – our behaviours and our cultures are also products of natural selection. To maximise their own reproductive success, for example, men have often tried to control women, and their sexuality.

In nomadic societies where there is little or no material wealth, as was the case with most hunter gatherers, a woman cannot easily be forced to stay in a partnership. She and her partner may move around together with her relatives, his relatives, or other people entirely. If unhappy, she can walk away.”

Read the full article here on The Conversation!