1. PATRIARCHY AND THE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN 1
Patriarchy: The Cause of Women Oppression
Belal Elkadri
University Of Michigan – Dearborn

2. PATRIARCHY AND THE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN 2
Patriarchy: The Cause of Women Oppression
Shirley Chisholm, an American politician said, “The emotional, sexual, and
psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says: "It's a girl.” As soon as the
pink blanket is wrapped around the baby, parents look at their newborn and fantasize about what
she may grow up to be. Will she be a President, a member of congress, a CEO or a housewife
who is a part of a patriarchy system? According to Johnson (2005), the United States is currently
in a “gender knot” in which women are expected to be the housewife and granted little power or
respect (Johnson, 2005, p. 1). In Johnson’s book The Gender Knot, Johnson says the reason for
this “gender knot” is because of this system known as patriarchy. Johnson (2005) defines
patriarchy as a social system that both men and women participate in (p. 5). It is a society that
promotes male privilege by being “male dominated, male identified, and male centered” (p. 5).
Johnson also included that it involves the oppression of women and the obsession of control (p.
5). The United States is a patriarchy system and whether consciously or not, males discriminate
against women (Keen, 1992, p. 106). Whether it’s not having to wait in line to use the bathroom,
not dealing with a menstrual cycle, or other situations that women face, men don’t see many of
the advantages that they have that women don’t (Johnson, 2005 p. 4). Johnson made me aware of
my patriarchy through the idea of being dominate, being male identified, and being obsessed
with control. Personal experiences that came to mind while reading Johnsons book have allowed
me to understand that I have oppressed women in ways that I wouldn’t think of.
My first personal experience involves male dominance. According to Johnson (2005),
male dominance means that men have power in positions of authority such as political,
economic, and religious (p.5). Manning and Shogan (2011) noted that 91 women and 447 men
served in the 112th
Congress in 2011 (Manning & Shogan, 2011, para. 1). Heads of state, CEOs
and religious leaders, tend to be male under patriarchy (Johnson, 2005, p.5). Women tend to be

3. PATRIARCHY AND THE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN 3
geared to do “caring” work like changing diapers and staying home (p. 5). Even though most
men aren’t powerful in their own lives, and not all women are powerless, male dominance still
creates power differences between men and women and promotes the idea that men are superior
to women (p. 6). When I get married I expect my wife to change her last name to mine, make
more money than her, and have her do the cooking, cleaning and other house choirs. These
stereotypes are seen throughout media and television shows. Johnson’s book has made me aware
of this early so I can avoid it in the future. However, in the past I’ve had a personal experience
with my niece and nephew involving male dominance.
Being the babysitter, I am in charge of both my niece and my nephew who are both seven
years old. According to Kimmel, Hearn, and Connell (2005), male dominance is often called
“men’s use of power” (Kimmel, Hearn, & Connell, 2005, p. 16). As a babysitter I used my
power many times to guide them in the path of what a boy and girl should be in my eyes. My
nephew wanted to play Barbie with his cousin; so I gave him an action figure instead of a Ken
doll. When my nephew said he wanted to be a fire fighter and my niece said that she wanted to
do the same, I said to my niece that she should become a nurse or a teacher because fire fighters
are for boys. Using my power as babysitter, I promoted patriarchy unconsciously and instead of
telling my niece she can be whatever she wants to be, I started in her mind the idea that men are
more superior to women based on profession and culture. Nevertheless, instead of unraveling the
knot that Johnson speaks of, I have participated in the system.
The next experience involves male identification. Johnson (2005) defines it as how
people see men and masculinity (Johnson, 2005, p. 6). The cultural description of masculinity
includes qualities such as control, strength, competiveness, toughness, and coolness (p. 7). These
qualities are associated with patriarchal societies like business, politics, war, athletics and law (p.

4. PATRIARCHY AND THE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN 4
7). In contrast, women have qualities such as caring, compromising and emotional
expressiveness (p. 7). Women are often prized for their beauty as objects and are called
“trophies” by some (p.7). This is where my next personal experience begins. Johnson (2005)
says masculinity and women who are treated as prizes for their beauty fall under this
characteristic of male identification; a part of patriarchy (p. 7). Men have this competiveness in
them and it is magnified when a group of men are together. Guys always have talks about the
women in their lives when they are not present. Some men who take advantage of women reveal
to other guys about sexual activities that they do. Some over exaggerate by saying they were in
bed with them for hours and some say “I’d hit that” when they see an attractive girl walk by.
When you’re in this environment, to fit in, you talk about girls.
In chapter two, Johnson (2005) talks about the change of words like crone, witch, bitch,
and virgin as they shift to vulgar language in today’s society (p.39). One time when I was with a
group of guys, we were talking about women. They wanted to hear a story that I had about this
girl that I dated. Now, around girls I would never talk like this but when you’re around “the
guys” you can’t help to have that arrogance and macho mentality. I told a story of a sexual
experience that I had with a girl that never happened. I than mentioned how I punched the
brother that she never had. I over exaggerated and made up stories to not only make me look
cool but to “up-1” on the other guy’s stories. This toughness of making up that the girl had a
brother that I punched and the competiveness that I had in trying to make me look better is what
fueled me to make up a story and make a female look bad. Johnson (2005) mentions that men
generally play a part in fostering the illusion of being larger than life, making themselves look
bigger than what they are because of competition (p. 13). Once again, I participated in the
system.

5. PATRIARCHY AND THE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN 5
Another characteristic of patriarchy is being obsessed with control (p. 14). Johnson
(2005) says that men are assumed to be in control at all times strong, knowledgeable, in
command always right, and unemotional, except for anger and rage (p.14). These qualities mark
men superior, justify their privilege, and allows women to be oppressed (p. 14). According to
Arliss and Borisoff (2001), men dominate women by questioning their authority, interrupting
them, or not soliciting their input (Arliss & Borisoff, 2001, p. 222). With that being said,
interrupting more, talking more and controlling content, is how I have dealt with many of the
arguments in relationships that I have had (Johnson, 2005, p 12).
As Johnson says, the more that men see control as central to their safety and well-being,
the more driven they are to organize their inner and outer lives around being in control (p. 14).
Many times when I’m arguing with women, I will talk about 95 percent of them. I will cut them
off if they talk and interrupt them, not allowing them to get a word in. I tend to make them feel
small because of the action they did. One time a girl called me and said that she was breaking up
with me because she wasn’t ready for a commitment. Instead of respecting how she felt, I
participated in patriarchy by running my mouth for an hour. I kept rambling on making her feel
bad for breaking up with me and every time she wanted to talk, even to apologize; I would say
that I’m talking, that she doesn’t get to talk and not to interrupt me. When she did talk I would
cut her off, not allowing her to finish what she had to say. As Johnson (2005) mentions, when
men control others, they have to justify the control and protect themselves from an awareness of
how control affects them (p. 15). Wheatear they were my intentions or not, I made her feel guilty
and I had the last word. This is the best example of men controlling women which is a core
aspect of patriarchal manhood.
Patriarchy has been happening since Adam and Eve (Daly, 1973, p. 72). Many beliefs are

6. PATRIARCHY AND THE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN 6
that Eve ate the apple; therefore she is to blame for original sin (p. 49). Not blaming the serpent
or both Adam and Eve. A majority of women embody sacrificial love, passive acceptance of
suffering, and humility (p. 77). Jesus embodied those same qualities, dying for the sins of
mankind (p. 77). A man had to sacrifice and die for the sins of mankind that started with the first
sin of Eve (p.72). God or god has an enormous importance in human life (Johnson, 2005, p. 9).
Female figures such as Eve and Pandora are associated with femaleness (p. 168). In a patriarchal
culture, females are seen as naturally weak, and corrupting (p. 168). Johnson (2005) says that it
shouldn’t come as no surprise that every monotheistic patriarchal religion worships a male-
identified God gendered as masculine (p.9). It makes sense that men are the core of patriarchy.
Many jobs are stereotypical to men and women. Men tend to have jobs that are directed
towards masculinity such as fire fighters, police officers, any hand on profession because work
defines manhood (p. 143). In contrast, women tend to have more nurturing jobs such as
elementary school teachers, nurses, and housewife. As Gilmore (1990) says men nurture their
society by shedding their blood, their sweat and their semen (p.230). They bring home food for
both child and mother, and by dying if necessary in faraway places to provide a safe haven for
their people (p. 230). This too is nurturing in the sense of endowing or increasing (p. 230).
Women give birth, sacrifice their life and much more to make sure men stay happy. James
Brown said, “This is a man’s world but it wouldn’t be nothing without a women or a girl”. This
makes sense because a woman gave birth to Jesus. During World War II, it was women who
helped win the war. (Lambert, 2000, para. 5). They built weapons and did skilled labor while
men were fighting in the war (para. 5). Therefore, one can draw to conclude that both genders
should be equal; but it’s not.
For 92 years women have been able to vote in contrast to white men who have been

7. PATRIARCHY AND THE OPPRESSION OF WOMEN 7
voting since the United States was founded. Even in sports, the NBA is more exciting to watch
than the WNBA. Other sports like men’s soccer, baseball, and even football are more exciting to
watch than women’s soccer, softball and some men may argue, lingerie football. In the United
States, sex sells and women are oppressed as they are used as sexual objects and idolized for
their bodies (Johnson, 2005, p. 81). So to solve the oppression of women, the gender knot must
be unraveling. In a patriarchy nation, both men and women participate but men dominate and are
in control (p.5). The United States is a nation that asks why a man raped a women rather than
looking at the big picture asking what kind of society has a repetition of men raping women (p.
46). I learned my lesson of how I have oppressed women and participated in patriarchy.
Therefore, if a patriarchal culture is aware of the choices that they make and choose different
choices within the system of patriarchy, the United States and other patriarchal nations can
unravel this gender knot (p. 32).

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References
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Daly, M. (1973). Beyond God the Father: toward a philosophy of women's liberation.. Boston:
Beacon Press.
Gilmore, D. D. (1990). Conclusions. Manhood in the making: cultural concepts of masculinity
(p. 230). New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.
Johnson, A. (2005). The gender knot: Unraveling our patriarchal legacy. Philadelphia,
PA: Temple University Press.
Keen, S. (1991). Taking the measure of a man. Fire in the belly: on being a man (p. 106). New
York: Bantam Books
Kimmel, M. S., Hearn, J., & Connell, R. (2005). Social Theories for Researching Men and
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Lambert, M. (2000, Oct 10). California and the west; THE WASHINGTON CONNECTION;
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Manning, J. E., & Shogan, C. J. (2011). Women in the United States Congress 1917-2011,.
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