Patriarchy is a concept of gender inequality. Bilton, T et al (2002 pg 139) defines patriarchy as being "A term used by feminists to refer to an overarching system of male dominance, often involving the dominance of senior men over junior men as well as over women. " In the 19th century women were often domesticated and rarely worked. Women's responsibilities lay with the children and chores around the home.
Men dominated 19th century Britain not only in state power, but also often in sex, employment, the family and within religion.The roots of male domination lie in a much earlier time and were arrived at for different reasons depending on the social class of the people. There was also a cross over between classes as lower classes tried to mimic the upper classes. Industrialisation and the division of labour also played a large part in this process. However the above aspects of patriarchy are going to be the areas this essay will examine to determine whether patriarchy exists in contemporary Britain. This essay will begin to establish whether patriarchy exists in state power in Britain today.
It will look at the criminal justice system first as this seems to have the most to do with society on a day-to-day basis. Statistics show that there are more male judges than women in the criminal justice system. In Bocock, R. and Thompson, K.
(1992 pg 37) women held 9. 9% of the general management labour force in 1984. This is also the case within other hierarchical occupations, which demonstrates how patriarchy still exists in Britain today. The problem of more men than women within the judicial system is that men may have a biased or different view than women when it comes to deciding a verdict on a women offender.Pollak's (1960) theory suggests that men jurors may show signs of chivalry towards women offenders because of stereotyped ideas.
However a woman juror may also have a biased view of a male offender. Box, S (1983) concurs that the majority of research on chivalry does not give clear support to the view that women receive more lenient treatment. To prove that women are treated less chivalrously now than previously there would have to be some statistical control. It is said that men can give harsher sentences especially in cases of murder where a wife murders her husband. This type of murder is often premeditated.Another aspect of state power that has great relevance in society and in relation to gender issues is the police force.
Reiner, R. (1994) 'policing the police' explains his theory of 'cop culture' in which the police world is infused by 'machismo' which is found to be evident in recruitment and promotion. There are several recent cases of sex discrimination that have been settled out of court. Reiner's studies show that the promotions and deployment decisions made by the older, more powerful group of male officers, which may discriminate against women officers, will be perpetuated as younger male officer's move up the hierarchy.
This is shown in the Alison Halford Enquiry (http://www. alisonhalford. free-online. co.
uk/PRpaddick121102. htm ) who was a victim of sexual discrimination in the police force. These articles support the view that patriarchy exists in the police force, as does discrimination against women. This shows a weakness in the police force and shows how parts of society find it difficult to accept equality.
The next aspect of patriarchy this essay will discuss which will help determine whether it still exists, is sex.Bilton, T et al (2002) discusses 'double standards' of sexual morality. A good demonstration of this is that "there is no male equivalent of the term 'slag' and that men are often admired for things that women are looked on as being deviant for. This shows how patriarchy still exists in contemporary Britain.
Feminists would agree that for many years in the pornographic and sex industry women have been exploited. It is commonplace to see parts of a women's genitalia but less common to see naked male bodies. This shows another male dominance in Britain that still exists today.Women rarely sexually attack men but as far as statistics suggest that violent crimes account for approximately half of total crime therefore women must be the main victims. Although women are exploited in the sex industry in Britain it is said in Bocock, R and Thompson, K (1992) that women have more sexual freedom than at any other period in Britain.
This is due to more availability of contraception and acceptance of sexual relations before marriage in society.Patriarchy is based on men dominating women but there is now acceptance of homosexual relationships and single parent families and this conflicts with the notion of patriarchy in terms of a man being the head of a 'nuclear' family. Frederick Engels in Lerner, G. (1986 pg 22) describes the 'nuclear' family as a patriarchal traditional family where the father is the breadwinner and the mother is domesticated and where the "man took command in the home also, the women was degraded and reduced to servitude; she became the slave of his lust and a mere instrument for the production of children.This concept is dated in terms of contemporary Britain. Weeks et al (1999) argues that there are more openly gay and lesbian households than there were in the past.
Weeks explains how gay and lesbian households do see themselves as families, and would even include friends as members of 'chosen families. ' For Weeks, such relationships are founded on commitment rather than a necessity to conform to a 'normal, nuclear' family. So, although the patriarchal 'nuclear' family is around and popular in modern Britain, it has been slightly adapted to changes both in society and in the home.Lone parent families in Britain with dependant children have risen from 2% in 1961 up to 6% in 1991 and still rising as http://www.
statistics. gov. uk shows in the General Household Survey section. As Britain is now a multicultural society with different races, religions and sexualities there are many more diverse families and people accept the diverse structures and are no longer so traditional.
Does a patriarchy still exist amongst different religions in contemporary Britain, a multicultural society, where different religions such as Catholic, Protestant and Muslim?The Bible or Koran in all of these religions strongly suggests that you must have no sex before marriage. It is agreed by Modood et al (1997) found on www. esher. ac.
uk (family diversity section) that many muslim families are still traditional and patriarchal and tend to reflect the society from which they migrated therefore not following the traditional British patriarchal model. It is often found amongst the Judaism religion that men tend to be the 'rulers. ' Often women are not allowed in some areas in the Synagogues as in the Muslim religion also.In the Muslim religion once a woman is married she is usually restricted to what parts of her body can be revealed.
Often Muslim women wear a veil and long clothes to cover their hair, parts of their face and the rest of their body such as legs. The woman is only allowed to take off her face veil when in company of her husband or in the family home. This is very patriarchal and does exist in Britain today. Does patriarchy exist in employment practices in Modern Britain?There has been a big change in women and work since the two world wars and the percentage of women in work has increased since the 'second wave' of feminism as Bocock, R and Thompson, K (1992) show. Women in Britain have now gained new legal rights such as Equal Pay Act 1970 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, therefore the earnings gap between men and women has declined. Today an unprecedented number of women have successful careers and full economic independence from men.
Bocock, R and Thompson, K (1992) explain how mothers returning to employment has gained social acceptability.A good example of this is the 'flexi-time' parents can now have at many places of employment so that they are able to collect their children from school and still hold down a full time job. Another change is the idea of paternity leave for fathers who are given leave from their employment for when their child is born. This is an example of how society has moved from the patriarchal ways.
Many would argue that patriarchy does still exist in some areas of employment and recruiters are often found not to employ or promote women into demanding positions within the company due to marital responsibilities that may prioritize over the job.Hakim, C. 'Five Feminist Myths About Women's Employment' (BJS V. 46. 1995 pg 432) discusses the perceived view by Hunt (1975:55) of women being "unwilling to take on responsibilities at work that would compete with their domestic responsibilities.
" Most local government organizations and central government services operate an equal opportunities policy which is designed to ensure that there is no discrimination in recruitment and promotion opportunities of employees on the basis of gender religion or race. However despite this the news is frequently giving examples of bad practice.Such as in a recent article regarding the Yorkshire Police. Lyn Smith says she was "continually overlooked for promotion during her 25-year career" http://news.
bbc. co. uk/1/hi/uk/235666. stm . There are several cases like this that the BBC report on and the majority are within the police. Hakim, C.
(1979 pg 52) discusses the institutionalisation of occupational segregation. She shows how Land (1976) "has argued that social policy throughout the twentieth century has encouraged women to be financially dependant on their husbands, and discouraged breadwinner role reversal.Occupational segregation is the "gender division of the labour market into 'men's jobs' and 'women's jobs'" as explained by Crompton, R (1997). Crompton, R goes on to explain patriarchy and work during the twentieth century. It is clear it still existed because of the number of women secretaries compared with male secretaries, and the number of women mechanics compared with men. To conclude patriarchy still exists in contemporary Britain in certain circumstances.
The police force, for example show evidence of the majority of the hierarchy being male as does the criminal justice system.In the sex industry women are perceived as sex objects and males appear to dominate. However women do have more sexual freedom now and double standards of sex morality are disappearing. Within the family and society women do have more choice and more opportunities open to them in areas of employment due to the laws discussed above. In terms of religion this essay has portrayed that religion does show signs of encouraging patriarchal ways in terms of a 'nuclear' family and still exists, but society is more tolerant of less traditional family structures.
