Question

What does patriarchy mean?
A. It means a system that demoralizes men more than women
B. It is a system which judge people’s opinion in every aspect of society
C. It means a system that values men more than women and gives them more power
D. None of these

Answer 1

Hint: The term ‘Patriarchy’ comes from the Greek word ‘Patriarches’ which means chief of a race. The opposite of the term ‘Patriarchy’ is ‘Matriarchy’.

Complete answer:
The literal meaning of the word ‘Patriarchy’ is ‘the rule of the father’. It comes from the Greek word ‘Patriarches’ which means chief of a race. The term ‘Patriarchy’ was historically used to refer to an autocratic rule by a male head of the family. Since the 20th century, this term has been used to refer to any society which holds males at primary power in the society.
Patriarchy is a system of the society which holds men as primary power with predominant roles in social privilege, moral authority, political leadership etc. It is associated with a set of ideas or a patriarchal ideology. This ideology tries to justify and explain that the dominance of males is due to the inherent natural differences between males and females.
According to the Feminist Theory, patriarchy is the main cause of women oppression. It is believed that patriarchy is caused by the biological inequalities of man and woman, for e.g. childbirth. Feminist historians believed that women must gain control over reproduction to set themselves free from oppression.
On the other hand, sociologists believe that patriarchy is a product of the society and has nothing to do with the innate differences between the two sexes. They believe that it is the ‘socializing process’ that is responsible for establishing patriarchy.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (C) It means a system that values men more than women and gives them more power.

Note:The opposite of Patriarchy is Matriarchy, which is a social system that holds women or rather mothers at primary power positions.
People often mistake Feminism as the opposite of Patriarchy, which is incorrect.
Feminism is a range of movements and ideologies to establish social equality of both sexes.