Ladies is was Patriarchy really that bad of a system?

Question

and would a matriarchy be any better? and if so how?

Answer 1

Any system in which one s*x has near-total dominance over the other is that bad.

Answer 2

All societies are patriarchal, but some are more patriarchal than others.  In different times, and in different societies, women have had more or less rights than in others.  But the system whereby leadership roles are mostly taken by men remains the case, and I think always will.  men are more likely to seek out dominant roles than women are.

Answer 3

Of course patriarchy was a bad system and a matriarchy wouldn't be any better.  Men and women should both have control.

Answer 4

I'd have to agree with Rio's sentiment.  

I would also like to add that though men hold more political offices in the US, women are not powerless.  Feminism exerts a major influence on nearly everything having to do with law, health care, research, education, community resources, and social structure.

In fact, some might argue that feminism has created a society today that favors or benefits women in ways that men are not shown benefit, and the result may be that men are finding themselves in positions of disadvantage in regard to women.

How so?

Well let's take a brief look:

Women outlive men by at least ten or more years.

Men outnumber women in successful suicides.

Men outnumber women in the problem of drug addiction and overdose.

Women graduate high school and attend college in larger numbers than men.

Men receive harsher sentencing for violent and sexual crimes.

Men have to fight harder for restraining and protection orders.

Men have next to no resources available to them for help with domestic violence (though numerous studies show that  women are more often the aggressors in intimate partner relationships.)

Fund-raising for health care dollars favors women's health concerns over men's.

Today's culture says it's o.k. to portray men in a negative light.   Because men do not hold a historical victim status (as do women and minorities), men are the last group in America that can be successfully portrayed in TV, movies, books, media, in a demeaning way.

Affirmative action increases prejudice against women and minorities while causing reverse discrimination against white males.

Prison rape is a brutal, horrific crime that occurs with astonishing frequency.  And with the monitoring technology that we have, and guards that are supposed to be doing their duty, this crime is still very prevalent.  And nothing substantial is being done to stop it.

If you take any of the above situations, and replace the word "men" with "women", there would be a public outcry to rectify/correct these situations.  There would be awareness campaigns, policy changes, effects on law and resources.

But as it stands right now, the general public is largely un-knowledgeable when it comes to these issues....and next to nothing is being done about them.

Answer 5

synapses of what to expect under matriarchy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo

Answer 6

OMG No!!

Frikken...Anyone on here answers all saracastically, but I would have loved to have lived in the 40s or 50s

I want to stay at home and keep my house and raise my children.

Matriarchy wouldn't be better because feminists get so bent out of shape on have ONCE been the weaker s*x so now they pick on men.  They are nasty people.

I want patriarchy backkkk !

Answer 7

Yes - it is - and it was even worse. I do not want to live in a world where women are OWNED  by men - that is the sort of thing that the patriarchy created.

It is so hard to imagine a real matriarchy and how it would work, as there have been none for thousands of years. I would hope it would be less violent, other than that I am sure that it would also have many problems.

Answer 8

Any system of organised power is detrimental to those who don't have a voice.

Rather than competing for the best system, we should all just realize that power struggles always means someone loses. Why would we want to build a society or a community for that matter where anyone has to be a loser by default?

Answer 9

"Ladies is was Patriarchy really that bad of a system?"

Oh, no...I would have LOVED being told how much education I could have, been married off without my consent, turned into a babymaking machine and informed what activities and interests were appropriate for me, and had no recourse if I was abused. That would have TOTALLY ROCKED!

Answer 10

ANY system that gives one group of people complete dominion over another is bad.

See above for answer to your second question.

Answer 11

Patriarchy in the past, was not aware in the slightest that the system has been dismantled...as for a matriarchal society, not ever likely to be given the opportunity to find out, but hey, thanks for at least recognising that women have not suddenly grasped power in the western world...one swallow does not a summer make... a couple of female leaders here and there...and as for men giving up power, sharing, distributing and re thinking spheres of male privilege, well, dreams are dreams...

Answer 12

Any social structure that suffers abuse by it's leaders or members will eventually become ill-reputed; regardless of its orgin (ie, sexual orientation, nationality, creed, religion, hierarchy)

Answer 13

No. Any system that excludes legal protections for anyone's rights or equal opportunity for leadership participation based on genitalia is prehistoric consciousness rooted in morbid Master / Slave notions of "superiority" and "inferiority" of some kind.  Please try to comprehend what is would feel like if men were not allowed to vote simply because they do not have a v****a, or not allowed to go to engineering college as I was not allowed before Title IX simply because men do not have a v****a, or you were not allowed to drive simply because men do not have a v****a, or if men were not allowed to have a bank account or equal pay simply because they do not have a v****a, or were forced to accept rape from other men designated by women in authority as "permitted" to rape you (marital rape) without legal protections simply because you did not have a v****a?  Those violations of human rights are not an abstraction to women as they are to men.  That's been our REALITY.  But, I wonder sometimes if men might better understand how it feels if they were to lose THEIR rights as human beings in a reversal.  I mean, would it "really be that bad of a system"?