#12629 - Walby Theorising Patriarchy - Sociological Theory

Sylvia Walby - Theorising Patriarchy (1989)

Introduction

• Patriarchy and capitalism are analytically independent

• Patriarchy can be modelled in terms of several partially interdependent structures

Definition

• Definitions of patriarchy differ

  • it has been used to describe relations in which men dominate both women and younger generations of men

    • this is a mistake because it implies a theory of gender inequality in which men’s domination of other men is central in men’s domination of women

• Patriarchy can preliminarily be defined as ‘a system of social structures, and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women’

  • ‘structures’ allows for the fact that not all men are in dominate positions, and likewise not all women are dominated

• Patriarchy exists primarily as a set of social relations, then as a set of structures, then as a set of practices

Dual Systems Analysis

• Patriarchy pre-dates and post-dates capitalism, and hence cannot be derived from it (likewise racism)

• Hence we need a dual or triple systems analysis, in terms of capitalism, patriarchy and racism

• Are the different parts seen as fused into one system of capitalist racist patriarchy, or as analytically distinct categories?

  • distinct

    • Hartmann’s analysis, though ostensibly retaining distinctness, underestimates the tension between capitalism and patriarchy

• The conflicts of patriarchal and capitalist interests do not have an inevitable result, but are based on local factors in patriarchal and capitalist relations

Ahistoricism, Universalism and Diversity

• Can patriarchy deal with different forms of gender inequality at different times and places?

  • e.g. experiences of black women are very different to those of white women - for black women the family is not a theatre of domination, but a relief from racist domination

  • ‘We need a concept of patriarchy which is flexible enough to capture the variation in women’s experience and inequality between women.’

• Is a concept of patriarchy essentialist in defining ‘woman’ etc? Does this view the place of women as static?

  • often feminist writing does take one factor as the critical base of patriarchy, creating a universalist and ahistoric theory

    • but even where feminist theory is like this, its empirical findings show variation in patriarchal relations

  • clearly there is a diversity of key structures and practices with causal primacy in gender relations

    • the family

    • sexuality

    • men’s violence

    • politics and the state

Structures

• There are six man patriarchal structures that together constitute a system of patriarchy:

  • patriarchal mode of production (expropriation of women’s labour)

  • patriarchal relations within waged labour

  • patriarchal state

  • male violence

  • patriarchal relations in sexuality

  • patriarchal culture

  • these have considerable duration over time and space

The Patriarchal Mode of Production

• Women’s labour is expropriated by their husbands within the marriage and household relationship

  • the product of a wife’s labour is labour power - that of her, her husband and her children. Yet the husband expropriates her labour because he possesses the labour power she produces, and can sell it as if it were his own

• Is it to women’s disadvantage? They may enjoy it, it may be better than the alternative etc. It may provide the basis for solidarity in class or race struggle. Hence the family may be in the woman’s interests

  • yes, it is, but this is because the patriarchal system necessitates marriage for security etc

  • this counter argument presupposes the primacy of class or ethnic exploitation over patriarchal exploitation

Patriarchal Relations in Paid Work

• Key element is the closure of access by men against women

  • occupational segregation - lower wages, jobs with lower status for women

    • types of segregation:

      • vertical

      • horizontal

      • full-timers/part-timers

      • skilled/unskilled

    • this particular configuration cannot be understood outside the relationship between patriarchy and capitalist production relations

Patriarchal State

• Women are excluded from the state and state resources

  • e.g. (historically) suffrage, current exclusion of women from positions of political power

• The state is not a patriarchal monolith

  • there are conflicts between groups represented in the state over patriarchal strategies

    • e.g. following war - men want jobs/women in the home, capitalists want women in the labour force

• The state makes the rules in many areas of sensitivity:

  • marriage etc

  • abortion, contraception

  • wage discrimination

  • sexuality, homosexuality, prostitution, pornography

  • male violence

Male Violence

• Male violence is a form of power over women, potential or actual

  • rape

  • wife-beating

  • father/daughter incest

  • flashing

  • sexual harassment at work

  • sexual assault

  • it has a routine effect on women’s behaviour

• Male violence is structured by the lack of state intervention in all but the most ‘extreme’ or ‘inappropriate’ circumstances

  • Weber defines the state as having a monopoly of legitimate coercion in a territory

    • if the state turns a blind eye to forms of violence, does that make it legitimate? In which case, is male violence part of the state apparatus?

      • if not, maybe we need to abandon the idea of the state having a monopoly over legitimate coercion

Patriarchal relations in sexuality

• Orientates women towards marriage and heterosexuality, stigmatizing close female relationships

• Is sexuality as important as radical feminists claim?

  • if it is through sexuality that women are constructed as women and men as men, then yes

    • but on this analysis, there is no separation between sexuality and gender, and so we can’t assess the importance of sexuality in determining gender relations

    • the fact that (supposedly) there has been movement in the approach to women’s sexuality suggests that it is not a universal constant (perhaps patriarchy isn’t a universal constant then?)

      • hence we should regard sexuality as a distinct factor of causal importance in patriarchal relations

Patriarchal Culture

• Lots of discourses/institutions that...