Patriarchy

2. Learning objectives:
 To understand the meaning of Patriarchy.
 To relate feminist thinking to range of social issues
(and consolidate our understanding)
 To develop paragraph style in sociology writing
(illustrating points with examples)

3. Patriarchy is..
Power held by men
Patriarchal
ideology is..
A set of ideas that benefit
men and keep women
oppressed
Patriarchal Society
is... they mean that men hold
the positions of power: head of
the family unit, leaders of social
groups, boss in the workplace
and heads of government.

4. In today’s lesson we are going to examine how men try
to control women.
We will consider how women are encouraged to behave
in certain ways – which benefit men.
We will consider how ideas about ‘being a woman’ are a
form of ideology and created to benefit men in society.

5. Jot down ideas in your groups
Social control
of women
Gender role
socialisation
Things to consider:
• Ways men control women
• Women and the home
• Judgements by men
• Women and employment
• Relationship rules
• Public spaces
Things to consider:
• Stereotypes
• Parental expectations
• Role models
• How women behave and why
• Relationships
• Media images

6. Domestic role
Servant of a
man
Promoting idea
of marriage
Nails/lips –
attractive for
man Man in suit -
breadwinner
Clinging onto
him - protector

7. Task
Summarise the following points in your
notes and add an example and then a
counter point.

17. Sky News reported that the pair
discussed Massey's appearance,
with Burton referring to Massey as
"a bit of a looker" while Gray asks:
"What do women know about the
offside rule?"

18. Synoptic thinking
 How can we relate patriarchy to false class
consciousness in Marxism?
 What happens when class consciousness emerges ?
 How can we relate this idea to feminism?
 The idea that rape/violence controls women is radical
feminist. What concept of Louis Althusser’s could we
relate this to? (When ideological control fails, what is
used to keep up level of control)?

19. Task
Write a paragraph explaining
A definition of patriarchy
The ways in which patriarchy is
perpetuated in society
The consequences of patriarchy for
both men and women.

20. Explanations of gender inequality
 You will need to discuss:
 Patriarchy
 Types of Feminism – use booklet to summarise each
type with criticism
 Other explanations of particular inequalities i.e
workplace. Use mindmap sheets to describe and
evaluate:-
 Marxist – Reserve army of labour and Deskilling
 Weberian – Dual Labour Market
 Liberal Feminist – Rational Choice Theory/Hakim

21. Essay Plan – Critically discuss feminist
explanations of gender inequalities. (30)
 Intro – outline Feminist thinking and define patriarchy.
 Describe 3 types of feminism each with a criticism or
comparison to another perspective which does not place
importance on gender issues e.g functionalism
 Outline inequalities which occur in society (repeated from
part a) – focus on patriarchy and continuance of
inequalities i.e in the workplace (glass ceiling, Horizontal
and Vertical Segregation)
 Describe explanations of inequalities in the workplace,
Weber, Marxist Feminism with a criticism or comparison
for each one.
 Conclude with summary and acknowledgement of progress
made by women in 21st C but that inequality still exists.