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103-397: A relatively small number of women are able to grow enough facial hair to have a distinct beard. The condition is called hirsutism. It is usually the result of polycystic ovary syndrome which causes excess testosterone and an over-sensitivity to testosterone, thus (to a greater or lesser extent) results in male pattern hair growth, among other symptoms. In some cases, female beard growth is

206-400: A gender binary in which woman is one of the two genders, the other being man ; others have a third gender . Most women are cisgender , meaning they were assigned female at birth and have a female gender identity . Transgender women were assigned male at birth and have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between

309-418: A "good mother" trains her son to be competitive, individualistic, and comfortable within the hierarchies of patriarchy, knowing that he may likely be economically successful but a mean person, or whether she resists patriarchal ideologies and socializes her son to be cooperative and communal but economically unsuccessful. Lerner, in her 1986 book The Creation of Patriarchy , makes a series of arguments about

412-499: A basis for feminist thought. She published The Woman's Bible , which proposed a feminist reading of the Old and New Testament. This tendency was enlarged by feminist theory, which denounced the patriarchal Judeo-Christian tradition. In 2020, social theorist and theologian Elaine Storkey retold the stories of thirty biblical women in her book Women in a Patriarchal World and applied the challenges they faced to women today. Working from both

515-453: A certain way not because they are biologically inclined to, but rather because they are judged by "how well they conform to the stereotypical local image of femininity". Feminists believe that people have gendered biases, which are perpetuated and enforced across generations by those who benefit from them. For instance, it has historically been claimed that women cannot make rational decisions during their menstrual periods. This claim cloaks

618-450: A combination of economic changes and the efforts of the feminist movement , in recent decades women in many societies have gained access to careers beyond the traditional homemaker . Despite these advances, modern women in Western society still face challenges in the workplace as well as with the topics of education, violence, health care, politics, and motherhood, and others. Sexism can be

721-488: A component in the rule of the patriarchal state that rules its inhabitants with the head of the family. Many feminists (especially scholars and activists) have called for culture repositioning as a method for deconstructing patriarchy. Culture repositioning relates to culture change . It involves the reconstruction of the cultural concept of a society. Prior to the widespread use of the term patriarchy , early feminists used male chauvinism and sexism to refer roughly to

824-570: A girl's coming of age , such as confirmation in some branches of Christianity , bat mitzvah in Judaism , or a custom of a special celebration for a certain birthday (generally between 12 and 21), like the quinceañera of Latin America. Male and female bodies have some differences . Some differences, such as the external sex organs , are visible, while other differences, such as internal anatomy and genetic characteristics, are not visible. Typically,

927-473: A higher body fat composition, and are on average shorter and less muscular than men. Throughout human history , traditional gender roles within patriarchal societies have often defined and limited women's activities and opportunities, resulting in gender inequality ; many religious doctrines and legal systems stipulate certain rules for women. With restrictions loosening during the 20th century in many societies, women have gained wider access to careers and

1030-506: A main concern and barrier for women almost anywhere, though its forms, perception, and gravity vary between societies and social classes. There has been an increase in the endorsement of egalitarian gender roles in the home by both women and men. Although a greater number of women are seeking higher education, their salaries are often less than those of men. CBS News said in 2005 that in the United States women who are ages 30 to 44 and hold

1133-513: A man, it is easily stated that a man's virtue is this—that he be competent to manage the affairs of his city, and to manage them so as to benefit his friends and harm his enemies, and to take care to avoid suffering harm himself. Or take a woman's virtue: there is no difficulty in describing it as the duty of ordering the house well, looking after the property indoors, and obeying her husband. The works of Aristotle portrayed women as morally, intellectually, and physically inferior to men; saw women as

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1236-594: A nutritious secretion that is the most distinctive characteristic of mammals, along with live birth. In mature women, the breast is generally more prominent than in most other mammals; this prominence, not necessary for milk production, is thought to be at least partially the result of sexual selection . Estrogens , which are primary female sex hormones, have a significant impact on a female's body shape. They are produced in both men and women, but their levels are significantly higher in women, especially in those of reproductive age. Besides other functions, estrogens promote

1339-497: A period of resource scarcity in Africa approximately 2 million years ago. In the 2009 book Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human , British primatologist Richard Wrangham suggests that the origin of the division of labor between males and females may have originated with the invention of cooking, which is estimated to have happened simultaneously with humans gaining control of fire between 1 and 2 million years ago. The idea

1442-404: A person's gender identity and their sex assigned at birth). Gender dysphoria may be treated with gender-affirming care , which may include social or medical transition . Social transition may involve changes such as adopting a new name , hairstyle , clothing , and pronoun associated with the individual's affirmed female gender identity. A major component of medical transition for trans women

1545-436: A primary cause of women's oppression, or as part of an interactive system. Shulamith Firestone , a radical-libertarian feminist, defines patriarchy as a system of oppression of women. Firestone believes that patriarchy is caused by the biological inequalities between women and men, e.g. that women bear children, while men do not. Firestone writes that patriarchal ideologies support the oppression of women and gives as an example

1648-399: A society, and would serve in the military. The Pythagoreans also valued the participation of women, who were treated as intellectual equals. Lerner states that Aristotle believed that women had colder blood than men, which made women not evolve into men, the sex that Aristotle believed to be perfect and superior. Maryanne Cline Horowitz stated that Aristotle believed that "soul contributes

1751-527: A specific "initiating event". Historian Gerda Lerner asserts in her 1986 book The Creation of Patriarchy that there was no single event, and documents that patriarchy as a social system arose in different parts of the world at different times. Some scholars point to social and technological events, notably the emergence of agriculture , about six thousand years ago (4000 BCE ). Marxist theory, as articulated mainly by Friedrich Engels in The Origin of

1854-619: A stigma which did not follow men. Similarly, in the People's Republic of China , laws governing morality which were written as egalitarian were selectively enforced favoring men, with insufficient enforcement against female infanticide in various areas, while infanticide of any form was, by the letter of the law, prohibited. Sociologists tend to reject predominantly biological explanations of patriarchy and contend that socialization processes are primarily responsible for establishing gender roles . According to standard sociological theory, patriarchy

1957-551: A university degree make 62% of what similarly qualified men do, a lower rate than in all but three of the 19 countries for which numbers are available. Some Western nations with greater inequality in pay are Germany, New Zealand and Switzerland. Particular religious doctrines have specific stipulations relating to gender roles , social and private interaction between the sexes, appropriate dressing attire for women, and various other issues affecting women and their position in society. In many countries, these religious teachings influence

2060-540: A virtuous woman must practice sexual propriety, proper speech, modest appearance, and hard work. Ban Zhao , a Confucian disciple, writes in her book Precepts for Women that a woman's primary concern is to subordinate themselves before patriarchal figures, such as a husband or father, and that they need not concern themselves with intelligence or talent. Ban Zhao is considered by some historians as an early champion for women's education in China; however, her extensive writing on

2163-653: A white woman challenged her sex and medical condition, whereas a beard on a woman of color challenged her species. Some famous bearded women were Krao Farini and Julia Pastrana . Notable examples were the famous bearded ladies of the circus sideshows of the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Barnum 's Josephine Clofullia and Ringling Bros. ' Jane Barnell , whose anomalies were celebrated. Sometimes circus and carnival freak shows presented bearded ladies who were actually women with facial hairpieces or bearded men dressed as women , both practices being lampooned by comedian and former circus performer W.C. Fields in

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2266-409: A woman have changed significantly since the early 20th century as women gained more rights and greater representation in the workforce, with scholarship in the 1970s moving toward a focus on the sex–gender distinction and social construction of gender . There are various words used to refer to the quality of being a woman. The term "womanhood" merely means the state of being a woman; " femininity "

2369-568: A work entitled Patriarcha . However, it was not published until after his death. In it, he defended the divine right of kings as having title inherited from Adam , the first man of the human species, according to Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition. However, in the latter half of the 18th century, clerical sentiments of patriarchy were meeting challenges from intellectual authorities – Diderot 's Encyclopédie denies inheritance of paternal authority stating, "... reason shows us that mothers have rights and authority equal to those of fathers; for

2472-403: A young age differed according to gender. Traditionally, middle class women were involved in domestic tasks emphasizing child care. For poorer women, economic necessity compelled them to seek employment outside the home even if individual poor women may have preferred domestic tasks. Many of the occupations that were available to them were lower in pay than those available to men. As changes in

2575-472: Is feminizing hormone therapy , which causes the development of female secondary sex characteristics (such as breasts , redistribution of body fat, and lower waist–hip ratio ). Medical transition may also involve gender-affirming surgery , and a trans woman may undergo one or more feminizing procedures which result in anatomy that is typically gendered female. Like cisgender women, trans women may have any sexual orientation. Factors that specifically affect

2678-632: Is a social system in which men typically hold authority and responsibility while also excluding women from it. In anthropology , it refers to a family or clan structure where the father or eldest male holds supremacy within the family, while in feminist theory , it encompasses a broader social structure where men collectively dominate societal norms and institutions. Patriarchal ideology acts to explain and rationalize patriarchy by attributing gender inequality to inherent natural differences between men and women , divine commandment, or other fixed structures. Sociologists tend to disagree with some of

2781-605: Is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Although femininity is socially constructed, some behaviors considered feminine are biologically influenced. The extent to which femininity is biologically or socially influenced is subject to debate. It is distinct from the definition of the biological female sex, as both men and women can exhibit feminine traits. The earliest women whose names are known include: In recent history, gender roles have changed greatly. At some earlier points in history, children's occupational aspirations starting at

2884-485: Is a social construction, it can be overcome by revealing and critically analyzing its manifestations. Jaggar, Young, and Hartmann are among the feminist theorists who argue that the system of patriarchy should be completely overturned, especially the heteropatriarchal family, which they see as a necessary component of female oppression. The family not only serves as a representative of the greater civilization by pushing its own affiliates to change and obey, but performs as

2987-477: Is a theory in response to patriarchy. Feminism focuses on the empowerment of women in society and the dismissal of traditional gender roles that are oppressive. Traditional female roles in the household are largely abandoned, and equal opportunity for women is the largest ideal that feminism stands with. Feminist theories believe that financial and social opportunities should be equally available for all. This social division of gender roles as caretakers and providers

3090-525: Is also related to patrilineality in a anthropological sense, although not exclusively. Some preconditions for the eventual development of patriarchy were the emergence of increased paternal investment in the offspring, also referred to as fatherhood , and of a sexual division of labour . Several researchers have stated that the first signs of a sexual division of labour dates from around 2 million years ago, deep within humanity's evolutionary past. It has been connected to an evolutionary process during

3193-524: Is broken down to better allow women to participate outside of caring for a home and children. Financial opportunity refers to employment pursuits, access to one's own finances, and wage equality for job positions that are available for both men and women. The wage gap issues and traditional roles as unpaid laborers for the family significantly drive the growth of feminism in modern social settings. Which in turn shuts down patriarchal structures. Feminist theorists have written extensively about patriarchy either as

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3296-467: Is caused by use of anabolic steroids . Cultural pressure leads most to remove it, as it may be viewed as a social stigma . Charles Darwin 's ideas on sexual selection that influenced the perception of women with excess facial hair were applied differently across race. Women of color who had excess facial hair were actually perceived as evidence of human's evolution from apes, whereas white women with excess facial hair were perceived as diseased. A beard on

3399-522: Is defined by WHO as "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes." In 2008, noting that each year more than 500,000 women die of complications of pregnancy and childbirth and at least seven million experience serious health problems while 50 million more have adverse health consequences after childbirth,

3502-418: Is due to lower testosterone, which stimulates the production of erythropoietin by the kidney. The normal hematocrit level for a woman is 36% to 48% (for men, 41% to 50%). The normal level of hemoglobin (an oxygen-transport protein found in red blood cells) for women is 12.0 to 15.5 g/dL (for men, 13.5 to 17.5 g/dL). Women's hearts have finer-grained textures in the muscle compared to men's hearts, and

3605-424: Is from class to class." Instead, the patriarchy is not the result of men's oppression of women or sexism per se, with men not even identified as the main beneficiaries of such a system, but capital itself. As such, female liberation needs to begin "with an assessment of the material position of women in capitalist society." In that, German differs from Young or Hartmann by rejecting the notion ("eternal truth") that

3708-766: Is generally longer than men's. This advantage begins from birth, with newborn girls more likely to survive the first year than boys. Worldwide, women live six to eight years longer than men. However, this varies by place and situation. For example, discrimination against women has lowered female life expectancy in some parts of Asia so that men there live longer than women. The difference in life expectancy are believed to be partly due to biological advantages and partly due to gendered behavioral differences between men and women. For example, women are less likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors like smoking and reckless driving , and consequently have fewer preventable premature deaths from such causes. In some developed countries,

3811-459: Is most apparent in the American representation of a nuclear family; the father works and brings home an income while the mother takes care of the children and the household. This economic power dynamic in the home typically places the desires of the man/father/husband as priority over the desires of the woman/mother/wife. Structural patriarchy expands the range of this social hierarchy outside of just

3914-476: Is natural has, however, come under attack from many sociologists, explaining that patriarchy evolved due to historical, rather than biological, conditions. In technologically simple societies, men's greater physical strength and women's common experience of pregnancy combined to sustain patriarchy. Gradually, technological advances, especially industrial machinery, diminished the primacy of physical strength in everyday life. Introduction of household appliances reduced

4017-552: Is often controversial . Some intersex conditions are associated with typical rates of female gender identity , while others are associated with substantially higher rates of identifying as LGBT compared compared to the general population. Female sexuality and attraction are variable, and a woman's sexual behavior can be affected by many factors, including evolved predispositions , personality , upbringing , and culture . While most women are heterosexual , significant minorities are lesbian or bisexual . Most cultures use

4120-407: Is the result of sociological constructions that are passed down from generation to generation. These constructions are most pronounced in societies with traditional cultures and less economic development. Even in modern, developed societies, however, gender messages conveyed by family, mass media, and other institutions largely favor males having a dominant status. Although patriarchy exists within

4223-461: Is used to refer to a set of typical female qualities associated with a certain attitude to gender roles ; "womanliness" is like "femininity", but is usually associated with a different view of gender roles. "Distaff" is an archaic adjective derived from women's conventional role as a spinner, now used only as a deliberate archaism . Menarche, the onset of menstruation , occurs on average at age 12–13. Many cultures have rites of passage to symbolize

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4326-465: The Han dynasty , Confucianism has strong dictates regarding the behavior of women, declaring a woman's place in society, as well as outlining virtuous behavior. Three Obediences and Four Virtues , a Confucian text, places a woman's value on her loyalty and obedience. It explains that an obedient woman is to obey their father before her marriage, her husband after marriage, and her first son if widowed, and that

4429-464: The Norman Conquest , man began to mean ' male human ' , and by the late 13th century it had largely replaced wer . The consonants /f/ and /m/ in wīfmann coalesced into the modern woman , while wīf narrowed to specifically mean a married woman ( ' wife ' ). It is a popular misconception that the term "woman" is etymologically connected to "womb". "Womb" derives from

4532-667: The criminal law , or the family law of those jurisdictions (see Sharia law , for example). The relation between religion, law and gender equality has been discussed by international organizations. The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women defines "violence against women" as: any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. Patriarchal society Patriarchy

4635-643: The heart muscle 's overall shape and surface area also differs to men's when controlling for body size and age. In addition, women's hearts age more slowly compared to men's hearts. Girls are born slightly less frequently than boys (the ratio is around 1:1.05). Out of the total human population in 2015, there were 1018 men for every 1000 women. Intersex women have an intersex condition, usually defined as those born with ambiguous genitalia . Most individuals with ambiguous genitalia are assigned female at birth, and most intersex women are cisgender . The medical practices to assign binary female to intersex youth

4738-444: The 1939 film, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man . Woman A woman is an adult female human . Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl . Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes , one from each parent, and fertile women are capable of pregnancy and giving birth from puberty until menopause . More generally, sex differentiation of

4841-420: The 1970s, many female academics, including scientists, avoided having children. Throughout the 1980s, institutions tried to equalize conditions for men and women in the workplace. Even so, the inequalities at home hampered women's opportunities: professional women were still generally considered responsible for domestic labor and child care, which limited the time and energy they could devote to their careers. Until

4944-564: The Family, Private Property and the State (1884), assigns the origin of patriarchy to the emergence of private property , which has traditionally been controlled by men. In this view, men directed household production and sought to control women in order to ensure the passing of family property to their own (male) offspring, while women were limited to household labor and producing children. Lerner disputes this idea, arguing that patriarchy emerged before

5047-664: The God-humanity covenant". The archaeologist Marija Gimbutas argues that waves of kurgan -building invaders from the Ukrainian steppes into the early agricultural cultures of Old Europe in the Aegean, the Balkans and southern Italy instituted male hierarchies that led to the rise of patriarchy in Western society . Steven Taylor argues that the rise of patriarchal domination was associated with

5150-804: The Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, she analysed different variations of patriarchy, and outlined the paradox of Rahab, a prostitute in the Old Testament who became a role-model in the New Testament Epistle of James, and Epistle to the Hebrews. In his essay "A Judicial Patriarchy: Family Law at the Turn of the Century", Michael Grossberg coined the phrase "judicial patriarchy", stating that "The judge became

5253-511: The Old English word wamb meaning ' belly, uterus ' (cognate to the modern German colloquial term " Wamme " from Old High German wamba for ' belly, paunch, lap ' ). The word woman can be used generally, to mean any female human, or specifically, to mean an adult female human as contrasted with girl . The word girl originally meant "young person of either sex" in English; it

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5356-617: The US ranked 12th of the 14 developed countries that were analyzed and since that time the death rates of every country have steadily improved while the US rate has spiked dramatically. While the others that were analyzed in 1990 show a 2017 death rate of fewer than 10 deaths per every 100,000 live births, the U.S. rate rose to 26.4. Furthermore, for every one of the 700 to 900 women who die in the U.S. each year during pregnancy or childbirth, 70 experience significant complications, totaling more than one percent of all births. The life expectancy for women

5459-923: The World Health Organization urged midwife training to strengthen maternal and newborn health services. To support the upgrading of midwifery skills the WHO established a midwife training program, Action for Safe Motherhood. In 2017, 94% of maternal deaths occur in low and lower middle-income countries. Approximately 86% of maternal deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia , with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for around 66% and Southern Asia accounting for around 20%. The main causes of maternal mortality include pre-eclampsia and eclampsia , unsafe abortion , pregnancy complications from malaria and HIV/AIDS , and severe bleeding and infections following childbirth. Most European countries, Australia, Japan, and Singapore are very safe in regard to childbirth. In 1990,

5562-549: The ability to pursue higher education. Violence against women , whether within families or in communities, has a long history and is primarily committed by men. Some women are denied reproductive rights . The movements and ideologies of feminism have a shared goal of achieving gender equality . Transgender women were assigned male at birth and have a female gender identity , while intersex women have sex characteristics that do not fit typical notions of female biology. The spelling of woman in English has progressed over

5665-463: The accessory glands ( Bartholin's and Skene's ), two pairs of glands that help lubricate during intercourse, and the vagina , an organ used in copulating and birthing. The vulva (external female genitalia) consists of the clitoris , labia majora , labia minora and vestibule . The vestibule is where the vaginal and urethral openings are located. The mammary glands are hypothesized to have evolved from apocrine-like glands to produce milk,

5768-431: The aid of their parents or guardians to fully mature. Sometimes humans have multiple births , most commonly twins . Usually between ages 49–52, a woman reaches menopause , the time when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Unlike most other mammals, the human lifespan usually extends many years after menopause. Many women become grandmothers and contribute to

5871-445: The amount of manual labor needed in the households. Similarly, contraception has given women control over their reproductive cycle. Patriarchy and Feminism Patriarchy generally falls under two categories, "traditional patriarchy" and "structural patriarchy" (Pierik). Traditional patriarchy refers to the idea that the father is the head of the household and is at the top of families’ social hierarchies. This patriarchal structure

5974-511: The appearance of socially stratified hierarchical polities, institutionalised violence and the separated individuated ego associated with a period of climatic stress. A prominent Greek general Meno , in the Platonic dialogue of the same name, sums up the prevailing sentiment in Classical Greece about the respective virtues of men and women. He says: First of all, if you take the virtue of

6077-415: The breadwinners in a patriarchal society, and women are seen as homemakers. Formal job occupations outside of the home, traditionally carried out by men in a patriarchal society, are paid labor. Any work done inside of the home without financial compensation, traditionally carried out by women in patriarchal societies, is unpaid labor. Until 1974, women were not allowed to have their bank accounts, which pushed

6180-493: The buffer between the family and the state", and that "Judicial patriarchs dominated family law because within these institutional and intraclass rivalries judges succeeded in protecting their power over the law governing the hearth." In ancient Japan , power in society was more evenly distributed, particularly in the religious domain, where Shintoism worships the goddess Amaterasu , and ancient writings were replete with references to great priestesses and magicians. However, at

6283-448: The care of grandchildren and other family members. Many biologists believe that the extended human lifespan is evolutionarily driven by kin selection , though other theories have also been proposed. In terms of biology , the female sex organs are involved in the reproductive system, whereas the secondary sex characteristics are involved in breastfeeding children and attracting a mate. Humans are placental mammals , which means

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6386-530: The cells of female humans contain two X chromosomes, while the cells of male humans have an X and a Y chromosome. During early fetal development , all embryos have phenotypically female genitalia up until week 6 or 7, when a male embryo's gonads differentiate into testes due to the action of the SRY gene on the Y chromosome. Sex differentiation proceeds in female humans in a way that is independent of gonadal hormones. Because humans inherit mitochondrial DNA only from

6489-596: The commonly accepted patriarchal interpretation of Christian scripture . Quaker Sarah Grimké voiced skepticism about the ability of men to translate and interpret passages relating to the roles of the sexes without bias. She proposed alternative translations and interpretations of passages relating to women, and she applied historical and cultural criticism to a number of verses, arguing that their admonitions applied to specific historical situations, and were not to be viewed as universal commands. Elizabeth Cady Stanton used Grimké's criticism of biblical sources to establish

6592-509: The concept of patriarchy represents an adaptation of the Marxist concept of class and class struggle . Lindsey German represents an outlier in this regard. German argued for a need to redefine the origins and sources of the patriarchy, describing the mainstream theories as providing "little understanding of how women's oppression and the nature of the family have changed historically. Nor is there much notion of how widely differing that oppression

6695-475: The conquests of Alexander the Great , who was educated by Aristotle. Although many 16th- and 17th-century theorists agreed with Aristotle's views concerning the place of women in society, none of them tried to prove political obligation on the basis of the patriarchal family until sometime after 1680. The patriarchal political theory is closely associated with Sir Robert Filmer . Sometime before 1653, Filmer completed

6798-644: The cycle of patriarchy continues much past the Greeks. Egypt left no philosophical record, but Herodotus left a record of his shock at the contrast between the roles of Egyptian women and the women of Athens . He observed that Egyptian women attended market and were employed in trade . In ancient Egypt, middle-class women were eligible to sit on a local tribunal , engage in real estate transactions, and inherit or bequeath property . Women also secured loans, and witnessed legal documents. Athenian women were denied such rights. Greek influence spread, however, with

6901-523: The development of class-based society and the concept of private property. Domination by men of women is found in the Ancient Near East as far back as 3100 BCE, as are restrictions on a woman's reproductive capacity and exclusion from "the process of representing or the construction of history". According to some researchers, with the appearance of the Hebrews , there is also "the exclusion of woman from

7004-438: The development of female secondary sexual characteristics , such as breasts and hips . As a result of estrogens, during puberty , girls develop breasts and their hips widen. Working against estrogen, the presence of testosterone in a pubescent female inhibits breast development and promotes muscle and facial hair development. Women have lower hematocrit (the volume percentage of red blood cells in blood) than men; this

7107-862: The duration of their lives. Biographies of Exemplary Women , a book containing biographies of women who lived according to the Confucian ideals of virtuous womanhood, popularized an entire genre of similar writing during the Ming dynasty. Women who lived according to this Neo-Confucian ideal were celebrated in official documents, and some had structures erected in their honor. In China's Qing dynasty , laws governing morality, sexuality, and gender-relations continued to be based on Confucian teachings. Men and women were both subject to strict laws regarding sexual behavior, however men were punished infrequently in comparison to women. Additionally, women's punishment often carried strong social stigma , "rendering [women] unmarriageable",

7210-473: The early 20th century, U.S. women's colleges required their women faculty members to remain single, on the grounds that a woman could not carry on two full-time professions at once. According to Schiebinger, "Being a scientist and a wife and a mother is a burden in society that expects women more often than men to put family ahead of career." (p. 93). Movements advocate equality of opportunity for both sexes and equal rights irrespective of gender. Through

7313-418: The eggs with sperm , via either sexual intercourse or artificial insemination , though in vitro fertilization allows fertilization to occur outside the human body. Humans are similar to other large mammals in that they usually give birth to a single offspring per pregnancy, but are unusual in being altricial compared to most other large mammals, meaning young are undeveloped at time of birth and require

7416-561: The fact that men also have periods of time where they can be aggressive and irrational; furthermore, unrelated effects of aging and similar medical problems are often blamed on menopause, amplifying its reputation. These biological traits and others specific to women, such as their ability to get pregnant, are often used against them as an attribute of weakness. Sociologist Sylvia Walby has composed six overlapping structures that define patriarchy and that take different forms in different cultures and different times: The idea that patriarchy

7519-405: The family, which in turn drives up the cost of living further. With this reliance on further income and sourcing traditionally female childcare roles outside of the home, patriarchal norms start to become less relevant. This breakdown of traditional roles leads to the natural decrease of a gender-specific social structure. Feminist Ideologies Feminism is not a direct opposition to patriarchy, it

7622-537: The female fetus is governed by the lack of a present, or functioning, SRY gene on either one of the respective sex chromosomes. Female anatomy is distinguished from male anatomy by the female reproductive system , which includes the ovaries , fallopian tubes , uterus , vagina , and vulva . An adult woman generally has a wider pelvis , broader hips , and larger breasts than an adult man . These characteristics facilitate childbirth and breastfeeding . Women typically have less facial and other body hair, have

7725-704: The financial divide further and placed men in higher economic positions. (Adam) The uneven financial compensation between these levels of labor is one of the factors that pushed feministic ideals forward. The Role of Patriarchy in Feminism With men being expected to bring home an income to support a family and the entire household, the strain of the increasing cost of living makes that ideal impractical. Because of this economic strain, many households rely on multiple incomes from both men and women. When women would traditionally be expected to stay home and provide childcare, they now have to seek it out elsewhere to provide for

7828-521: The form and model of creation". This implies that any imperfection that is caused in the world must be caused by a woman because one cannot acquire an imperfection from perfection (which he perceived as male). Aristotle had a hierarchical ruling structure in his theories. Lerner claims that through this patriarchal belief system, passed down generation to generation, people have been conditioned to believe that men are superior to women. These symbols are benchmarks which children learn about when they grow up, and

7931-620: The health of women in comparison with men are most evident in those related to reproduction , but sex differences have been identified from the molecular to the behavioral scale. Some of these differences are subtle and difficult to explain, partly due to the fact that it is difficult to separate the health effects of inherent biological factors from the effects of the surrounding environment they exist in. Sex chromosomes and hormones, as well as sex-specific lifestyles, metabolism, immune system function, and sensitivity to environmental factors are believed to contribute to sex differences in health at

8034-424: The home and family dynamic. The typical influence that men hold in the home is extended to their social and professional positions. Women are often considered the caretakers of the workplace when in a professional setting while men do the labor. This dynamic can be seen in an office setting, with men as sources of income for the business and women in roles as secretaries to care for the workplace. This system leans into

8137-512: The idea that men are typically placed in higher-power positions in society due to the traditional role of a financial provider, and women fall into caretaker roles. Development of Feminism The extended presence of patriarchal structures has led to the establishment of feministic ideals over centuries (Brunell). Several prominent fronts led to and continue to push the development of feminism; including paid and unpaid labor and expectations of gender roles(Thompson). Men are traditionally viewed as

8240-704: The joy of giving birth, which she labels a patriarchal myth. For Firestone, women must gain control over reproduction in order to be free from oppression. Feminist historian Gerda Lerner believes that male control over women's sexuality and reproductive functions is a fundamental cause and result of patriarchy. Alison Jaggar also understands patriarchy as the primary cause of women's oppression. The system of patriarchy accomplishes this by alienating women from their bodies. Interactive systems theorists Iris Marion Young and Heidi Hartmann believe that patriarchy and capitalism interact together to oppress women. Young, Hartmann, and other socialist and Marxist feminists use

8343-477: The labor market for women came about, availability of employment changed from only "dirty", long hour factory jobs to "cleaner", more respectable office jobs where more education was demanded. Married women's participation in the U.S. labor force rose from 5.6–6% in 1900 to 23.8% in 1923. These shifts in the labor force led to changes in the attitudes towards women at work, allowing for the revolution which resulted in women becoming career and education oriented. In

8446-449: The levels of physiology, perception, and cognition. Women can have distinct responses to drugs and thresholds for diagnostic parameters. Some diseases primarily affect or are exclusively found in women, such as lupus , breast cancer , cervical cancer , or ovarian cancer . The medical practice dealing with female reproduction and reproductive organs is called gynaecology ("science of women"). Maternal mortality or maternal death

8549-1141: The life expectancy is evening out. This is believed to caused both by worse health behaviors among women, especially an increased rate of smoking tobacco by women , and improved health among men, such as less cardiovascular disease . The World Health Organization (WHO) writes that it is "important to note that the extra years of life for women are not always lived in good health." Reproductive rights are legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health . The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics has stated that: The World Health Organization reports that based on data from 2010 to 2014, 56 million induced abortions occurred worldwide each year (25% of all pregnancies). Of those, about 25 million were considered as unsafe . The WHO reports that in developed regions about 30 women die for every 100,000 unsafe abortions and that number rises to 220 deaths per 100,000 unsafe abortions in developing regions and 520 deaths per 100,000 unsafe abortions in sub-Saharan Africa. The WHO ascribes these deaths to: Femininity (also called womanliness or girlishness )

8652-427: The mother carries the fetus in the uterus and the placenta facilitates the exchange of nutrients and waste between the mother and fetus. The internal female genitalia consist of the ovaries , gonads that produce female gametes called ova , the fallopian tubes , tubular structures that transport the egg cells, the uterus , an organ with tissue to protect and nurture the developing fetus and its cervix to expel it,

8755-623: The mother's ovum, genealogical researchers can trace maternal lineage far back in time. Female puberty triggers bodily changes that enable sexual reproduction via fertilization . In response to chemical signals from the pituitary gland , the ovaries secrete hormones that stimulate maturation of the body, including increased height and weight, body hair growth, breast development and menarche (the onset of menstruation). Most girls go through menarche between ages 12–13, and are then capable of becoming pregnant and bearing children . Pregnancy generally requires internal fertilization of

8858-414: The obligations imposed on children originate equally from the mother and the father, as both are equally responsible for bringing them into the world. Thus the positive laws of God that relate to the obedience of children join the father and the mother without any differentiation; both possess a kind of ascendancy and jurisdiction over their children...." In the 19th century, various women began to question

8961-410: The origins and reproduction of patriarchy as a system of oppression of women, and concludes that patriarchy is socially constructed and seen as natural and invisible. Some feminist theorists believe that patriarchy is an unjust social system that is harmful to both men and women. It often includes any social, political, or economic mechanism that evokes male dominance over women. Because patriarchy

9064-494: The past millennium from wīfmann to wīmmann to wumman , and finally, the modern spelling woman . In Old English , mann had the gender-neutral meaning of ' human ' , akin to the Modern ' person ' or ' someone ' . The word for ' woman ' was wīf or wīfmann ( lit.   ' woman-person ' ) whereas ' man ' was wer or wǣpnedmann (from wǣpn ' weapon; penis ' ). However, following

9167-420: The patriarchy is at the root of female oppression. Audre Lorde , an African American feminist writer and theorist, believed that racism and patriarchy were intertwined systems of oppression. Sara Ruddick , a philosopher who wrote about "good mothers" in the context of maternal ethics, describes the dilemma facing contemporary mothers who must train their children within a patriarchal system. She asks whether

9270-592: The predominantly biological explanations of patriarchy and contend that socialization processes are primarily responsible for establishing gender roles . Sociobiologists compare human gender roles to sexed behavior in other primates and some argue that gender inequality comes primarily from genetic and reproductive differences between men and women. Social constructionists contest this argument, arguing that gender roles and gender inequity are instruments of power and have become social norms to maintain control over women. Historically, patriarchy has manifested itself in

9373-434: The property of men; claimed that women's role in society was to reproduce and to serve men in the household; and saw male domination of women as natural and virtuous. Not all of the great Greek thinkers believed that women were inferior. Aristotle's teacher Plato laid out his vision of the most just society in his work Republic . In it, Plato argues that women would have complete educational and political equality in such

9476-596: The result of a hormonal imbalance (usually androgen excess), or a rare genetic disorder known as hypertrichosis. In some cases, a woman's ability to grow a beard can be due to hereditary reasons without anything medically being wrong. There are numerous references to bearded women throughout the centuries, and William Shakespeare also mentioned them in Macbeth : you should be Women, And yet your beards forbid me to interpret, That you are so. However, no known productions of Macbeth included bearded witches. Sometimes it

9579-456: The same phenomenon. Author bell hooks argues that the new term identifies the ideological system itself (that men claim dominance and superiority to women) that can be believed and acted upon by either men or women, whereas the earlier terms imply only men act as oppressors of women. Sociologist Joan Acker , analyzing the concept of patriarchy and the role that it has played in the development of feminist thought, says that seeing patriarchy as

9682-418: The scientific atmosphere, "the periods over which women would have been at a physiological disadvantage in participation in hunting through being at a late stage of pregnancy or early stage of child-rearing would have been short". During the time of the nomads, patriarchy still grew with power. Lewontin and others argue that such biological determinism unjustly limits women. In his study, he states women behave

9785-633: The social, legal, political, religious, and economic organization of a range of different cultures. Most contemporary societies are, in practice, patriarchal, unless the criteria of complete exclution of women in authority is applied. Patriarchy literally means "the rule of the father" and comes from the Greek πατριάρχης ( patriarkhēs ), "father or chief of a race", which is a compound of πατριά ( patria ), "lineage, descent, family, fatherland" (from πατήρ patēr , "father") and ἀρχή ( arkhē ), "domination, authority, sovereignty". Historically,

9888-484: The term patriarchy has been used to refer to autocratic rule by the male head of a family; however, since the late 20th century it has also been used to refer to social systems in which power is primarily held by adult men. The term was particularly used by writers associated with second-wave feminism such as Kate Millett ; these writers sought to use an understanding of patriarchal social relations to liberate women from male domination. This concept of patriarchy

9991-425: The terms patriarchal capitalism or capitalist patriarchy to describe the interactive relationship of capitalism and patriarchy in producing and reproducing the oppression of women. According to Hartmann, the term patriarchy redirects the focus of oppression from the labour division to a moral and political responsibility liable directly to men as a gender . In its being both systematic and universal, therefore,

10094-456: The time contemporary with Constantine in the West, "the emperor of Japan changed Japanese modes of worship", giving supremacy to male deities and suppressing belief in female spiritual power in what feminist scholars in the field of religious studies have called a "patriarchal revolution." In ancient China, gender roles and patriarchy were shaped by Confucianism . Adopted as the official religion in

10197-485: The value of a woman's mediocrity and servile behavior leaves others feeling that this narrative is the result of a misplaced desire to cast her in a contemporary feminist light. Similarly to Three Obediences and Four Virtues , Precepts for Women was meant as a moral guide for proper feminine behavior, and was widely accepted as such for centuries. In China's Ming dynasty , widowed women were expected to never remarry, and unmarried women were expected to remain chaste for

10300-432: The word girl (or its equivalent in other languages) is still used to refer to a never-married woman; in this sense it is used in a fashion roughly analogous to the more-or-less obsolete English maid or maiden . Different countries have different laws, but age 18 is frequently considered the age of majority (the age at which a person is legally considered an adult). The social sciences' views on what it means to be

10403-564: Was developed to explain male dominance as a social, rather than biological, phenomenon. Patriarchy is a social system in which men are the primary authority figures in the areas of political leadership , moral authority and control of property . Sociologist Sylvia Walby defines patriarchy as "a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress, and exploit women". Social stratification along gender lines, with power predominantly held by men, has been observed in most, but not all societies. The concept of patriarchy

10506-563: Was early proposed by Friedrich Engels in an unfinished essay from 1876 . Anthropological , archaeological and evolutionary psychological evidence suggests that most prehistoric societies were relatively egalitarian , and suggests that patriarchal social structures did not develop until after the end of the Pleistocene epoch, following social and technological developments such as agriculture and domestication . According to Robert M. Strozier , historical research has not yet found

10609-502: Was only around the beginning of the 16th century that it came to mean specifically a female child. The term girl is sometimes used colloquially to refer to a young or unmarried woman; however, during the early 1970s, feminists challenged such use because the use of the word to refer to a fully grown woman may cause offence. In particular, previously common terms such as office girl are no longer widely used. Conversely, in certain cultures which link family honor with female virginity ,

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