Despite the seeming advancement in the empowerment of women and the trend towards gender equality, there has been a continuation of the belief among many people that hierarchy between the genders is natural or morally justified. This indicates that the work of ending patriarchy in particular and gender hierarchy in general is still not finished. I am mentioning the broader category of gender hierarchy because while patriarchy is a type that has been the most common throughout history, it is not the only type that can be conceived of. While I will be talking about patriarchy specifically, many of the effects I will be talking about would, most likely, take place if another gender were socially dominant.
How Patriarchy Arose
To understand the problem I am addressing, we need to look at where it started. Patriarchy is defined here as a social system in which men are placed in a position of political, economic, and cultural dominance over other genders, particularly women. This emerged in the Fertile Crescent shortly after the agricultural revolution (Writing by Renee. n.d.).
Under this early form of patriarchy, a woman’s honor was directly linked to chastity, with killings of women who were seen as “dishonorable” by being sexually open or not conforming to strict gender roles being both a common and accepted practice (Women’s Voices Now. 2025). Such honor killings continue in the present day such as the murder of Noor Almaleki (Amnesty International. 2012, April 10).
The killing of all men and capture of all women and children of the defeated tribe by the victorious one became standard. Prostitution came about as a way for poor women to earn a living. The head of the household held absolute authority over his wife and children, including that of life and death. Wives were expected to perform labor for their husband in a similar way slaves were expected to work for their masters.
Abortion became seen as a serious crime, not because of the modern reasoning that it involves the death of the fetus, but because it usurps the authority of the father over life and death. While much of the explicit second-class status of women has largely disappeared in the First World, there are many social barriers and cultural attitudes that make the subordination of women seem natural, or at least not anything worthy of concern.
You may have noticed how this has become even more of a problem with the rise of the internet and the manosphere, as the belief that wives should obey their husbands becomes more popular among Gen Z men. (Dubin, A. 2026, July 10) This indicates that patriarchal ideas still have influence in the current culture, part of a broader wave of modern threats to women’s rights, and that much of the work to overturn these ideas is still unfinished.
Evolution of Patriarchy and How it Affects Us Today
While patriarchy came about in its strictest and most brutal form in its beginning stage, there have been constants as it evolved throughout history. One consistent theme was the acceptance of the violation of the bodily autonomy of women. For example, in Europe when it was still Christendom, marital rape was legal. Even rape against non-married women was treated as a crime against the father rather than the woman (Hira, E. 2021).
This means that a woman’s body was not seen as hers, but as belonging to her father or husband. In fact, it was not until recently that it became considered rape for a man to force his wife to have sex with him, as the marriage contract was considered to be consent to the right of the husband to have sex with his wife when he wanted. It should be noted, though, that even before marital rape was formally banned, using physical force to compel a wife had been illegal since at least 1954 (R v Miller – 1954, 2019, June 28).
Another major constant is the promotion of sexist attitudes which legitimize patriarchy. Even in the modern United States, where men and women are supposedly equal, there are still many misogynistic assumptions that permeate the culture.
For example, the prevalence of “victim blaming,” where women will be seen as being at fault for being sexually assaulted under the reasoning that they should not have gotten into such a situation in the first place, the very dynamic that the #MeToo movement worked to expose and reverse. You may have heard about a case when members of a Yale fraternity chanted “no means yes and yes means anal” (Waging Nonviolence. April 2014).
Another example is the gender stereotypes that continue to be viewed as common sense, such as men being stoic, dominant, and aggressive and women being emotional, nurturing, and passive. (United Nations. 2025). You have likely seen such stereotypes, both positive and negative, being propagated without people even intending to do so.
Gender Hierarchy as the Problem
You may be wondering why I am going from the narrower category of patriarchy to the broader category of gender hierarchy. While patriarchy is the most prevalent form of gender hierarchy, the critique of it needs to be applied to any gender hierarchy to avoid the assumption that the problem is the specific gender that is placed in a superior position. While there have been, as far as we know, no societies in which men have been socially subordinate, we can still examine what such a “reverse patriarchy” would look like by the example of white women who owned slaves. The evidence indicates that these white women engaged in many of the same violent abuses as their male counterparts (Little, B. 2019).
This shows that the problem is one gender being above another rather than simply which gender is dominant. While such a “reverse patriarchy” has never existed, I think that the expansion of the concept is important to avoid the belief that what needs to be done is simply to change the dominant gender rather than ending gender-based subordination, as the latter involves far more systemic change and is therefore much harder to achieve.
Potential Solutions
While it is likely impossible to eliminate sexual violence, in the same way it is probably impossible to eliminate violence in general, there are many different proposals as to how it can be minimized. The conservative argument is based on the idea that patriarchy in some form is either inevitable or beneficial, and therefore what needs to be done is to ensure that men and women act morally towards each other and fulfill their assigned social roles through traditions and institutions (Claremont Review of Books. 2026).
The problem with the conservative view is that it is both historically questionable (African, A. 2025) and legitimizes the subordination of half of the world’s population. Conservatives often hold the view that rape and other forms of sexual violence can be effectively deterred through severe punishments like life imprisonment, castration, or execution. Multiple solutions come from the feminist tradition, some of which overlap with the conservative solution, particularly the previously mentioned “tough on sex crime” stance.
Other feminists have argued that such punishments are ineffective at deterring sex crimes, give a dangerous amount of power to the government, and do not address the root causes of violence against women (Domingo-Cabarrubias, L. 2023). These latter feminists often argue that society must be fundamentally changed rather than simple legislation be enacted (Goodman, L., Protano, C., & Lipman, L. 2023). from the home all the way to equaling the playing field in the workplace.
I agree with the latter, but I recognize that the task will be incredibly difficult. You may be wondering what I think needs to be done, and I honestly cannot give you a complete solution. However, I do have a few ideas. One thing parents can do is let children pursue their interests regardless of gender and interact with each other regardless of gender. This will help foster mutual respect and egalitarian attitudes early on , which is part of the larger work of empowering women to refuse the role of victim rather than accept subordination as natural.
While this is certainly not enough, it will be quite helpful in combating the justifications for patriarchy. Another thing that can be done is to encourage both men and women to speak openly about abuse, including breaking the silence around men’s mental and sexual health, so that they are less afraid to speak out when it happens.
References
African, A. (2025). The Role of Women in Pre-Colonial African Societies. In African History.
The creation of patriarchy: How did it happen? – Writing by Renee. (n.d.).
Goodman, L., Protano, C., & Lipman, L. (2023). Radical Feminism. Openpress.Digital.Conncoll.Edu.
Honor Violence: A Hidden War on Women – Women’s Voices Now. (2025). In Women’s Voices Now.
Little, B. (2019). The Massive, Overlooked Role of Female Slave Owners | HISTORY. In History.com.
R v Miller – 1954. (2019, June 28). Www.Lawteacher.Net.
United Nations. (2025). Gender Stereotyping. In ohchr. United Nations.
Why Males Rule – Claremont Review of Books. (2026). Claremont Review of Books.
Free guide when you subscribe
Enjoyed this? Get Say It Out Loud, free.
Our menopause conversation guide: what to say to your doctor, your therapist and your partner, plus a symptom tracker. Subscribe free and it lands in your inbox, with $10 off the shop and new stories twice a month.
No spam. Unsubscribe in one click.
