Patriarchy: Fatherhood & the Restoration of Culture
Is Patriarchy Inevitable?
Answers Secular & Religious
These seem to be hard times for the would-be patriarch. The "family wage" system that formerly rewarded the father as "head of the household" has been undermined by equal employment and equal pay statutes. Title IX rules have mandated that much of the once male-dominated athletic world be turned over to the women. Fallout from the #MeToo campaign has discouraged even legitimate male quests to find an appropriate mate. The Boy Scouts organization now produces neutered "scouts." Ritalin tames aggressive little boys. Feminist propaganda celebrating female steelworkers and combat soldiers alongside male childcare givers and stay-at-home dads—this material fills school textbooks. The military appears to give priority to the principle of androgyny over victory. The prestige professions of lawyer and medical doctor are rapidly being feminized. The U.S. marriage rate stands at a record low; so does the marital fertility rate. A fair number of the men who do venture into marriage and fatherhood find themselves transformed into the indentured servants of their ex-wives. Contemporary church hymns and liturgies focus on gender justice and power games.
Indeed, the one American journal openly affirming patriarchs has died. Published in the village of Willis, Virginia, Patriarch magazine aimed at "nothing less than a return to patriarchy, a society led by strong, godly men. . . . Each man should aim to be the founder of a dynasty for God," with a full quiver of children. Alas, circulation was probably never more than a thousand or so, and the publisher called it quits in 2004. The aspiring patriarchs of 2018 now have no clear source for inspiration or guide for action.
All the same, feminist analysts argue that the power of the patriarchs is undiminished; in their view, patriarchs remain clever, devious foes. As historian Heidi Hartmann explains, patriarchy is "a strikingly resilient form of social organization." The philosopher Gerda Lerner finds patriarchy to be "remarkably adaptive and resilient." Feminist political theorist Sylvia Walby argues that "for every victory won by women there has been a patriarchal backlash in another area." She continues: "Patriarchy is a dynamic system. . . . If women do win . . . then patriarchal forces will regroup and regain control over them in other ways."
Could this be true? Is patriarchy inevitable?
Goldberg's Arguments
There are answers both secular and religious. Regarding the former, I refer to political scientist Steven Goldberg's 1973 treatise, appropriately titled The Inevitability of Patriarchy. Opposite his title page, this professor of sociology at the City University of New York quoted Cicero: "Numquam naturam mos vinceret; est enim ea semper invicta." Translated: "Custom will never conquer nature, for it is always she who remains unconquered."
Goldberg defined patriarchy as "any system of organization (political, economic, industrial, financial, religious, or social) in which the overwhelming number of upper positions in hierarchies are occupied by males." He then argued that "authority and leadership are, and always have been, associated with the male in every society. . . . [Patriarchy] is universal and . . . there has never been a matriarchy." Put another way, he declared that "no society or group anywhere ever associates authority with a female when an equivalent male is available." Feminist assertions that matriarchal societies existed in the past are rubbish, he said: "none of the alleged Amazonian societies has ever existed."
Writing again back in 1973, Goldberg referred to politics, noting that there were (then) no female state governors or U.S. senators, while a mere three percent of members of the U.S. House of Representatives were women, and only five percent of members of state legislatures. Female mayors in cities of over 25,000 in population were but one percent of the total. Turning to economics, he held that "there are still fewer women in positions of power and leadership in the financial and business world," except for those who had inherited wealth or businesses from successful men.
So, how well have Goldberg's arguments from 45 years ago held up?
In American politics, at best unevenly. Twenty-three percent of U.S. Senate seats are now held by women, compared to zero in 1973, while the ladies also now claim nearly 20 percent of the membership in the U.S. House of Representatives. Numbers are similar in Canada, where 28 percent of the seats in Parliament are held by women. Females now also hold 25 percent of the seats in state legislatures, five times the number recorded in 1973. Among cities with at least 25,000 residents, 22 percent have female mayors, up from one percent in 1973. Change is less dramatic, though, among governorships:
only six—or 12 percent—of states are led by women.
Allan C. Carlson is the author of numerous books, including Family Questions: Reflections on the American Social Crisis and The American Way: Family and Community in the Shaping of the American Identity. He attends St. Paul Lutheran Church in Rockford, Illinois. He is a senior editor of Touchstone.
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more on fatherhood from the online archives
16.5—June 2003
on the Importance of Fathers to Churchgoing by Robbie Low
14.1—January/February 2001
A Sociologist Looks at Fatherlessness & Its Causes by David Blankenhorn
14.1—January/February 2001
The Christian Heart of Fatherhood
The Place of Marriage, Authority & Service in the Recovery of Fatherhood by John M. Haas
more from the online archives
29.3—May/June 2016
A Deathbed Reflection on Catholic Social Teaching & Our Future Prospects by Karl D. Stephan
20.8—October 2007
The Deep & Abiding Biblical Roots of Western Liberal Education by David Lyle Jeffrey
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