Research Opinion Pieces
Women’s & Men’s Experience with Patriarchy
Nonqaba Keatimilwe-Buthelezi
Since the twentieth century, there has been a great deal of activism for gender inclusion, empowerment, and equality. These initiatives have resulted in historic national, regional, and international policy. For example, all African nations endorsed the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. The SDGs seek to alleviate poverty by addressing its numerous root causes. Poor health, low levels of education, social and economic participation, governance, and leadership are all common causes. In addition to being one of the 17 SDGs, gender equality and women’s empowerment are intertwined with all the other SDGs and their associated targets. Other international treaties pertaining to gender equality include the African Charter on Women’s Rights, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on Women’s Rights in Africa, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
To comply with international norms and standards on human rights, gender equality, and non- discrimination, African countries have reacted by changing existing national legislation, introducing new legislation, or doing both. Gender equality, for instance, is currently enshrined in the national constitutional frameworks of Kenya, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, and Angola. The Local Government: Municipal Systems Act of 2000 in South Africa was amended to make it easier to implement the country’s constitutional protections against discrimination and inequality, as well as to increase women’s representation on local government election candidate lists. South Africa also passed the Employment Equity Act in 1998 to promote gender equality, moral workplace behaviour, and the implementation of affirmative action for groups that had previously faced unfair discrimination under apartheid, including women. South Africa, like Lesotho, Kenya, Eswatini, and Angola, has passed national legislation prohibiting sexual assault and domestic violence. These initiatives sparked the establishment of gender desks and GBV hotlines, among other things. Furthermore, there has been a slight increase in the percentage of women in leadership roles and the number of women working in traditionally male-dominated fields.
Despite widespread elimination of gender inequality, women continue to face serious injustices. In Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world, women have few land ownership and inheritance rights. Due to customs and practises that favour male land ownership and inheritance, women voluntarily choose not to exercise their rights to land ownership and inheritance in societies where they are granted these rights. Although the principle of non-discrimination based on gender is upheld in the constitutions of Somalia, Burundi, Liberia, and Togo, there are legal restrictions on the transfer of citizenship from a mother to a child that do not apply to the conferring of nationality by fathers to children.
In some industries in South Africa, women are paid less than men who do the same job. On average women earned 76% of what men earned in 2018, 87% of what men earned in 2019, and 78% of what men earned in 2020, according to The Women Empowerment Gender Series Volume IX: 2017 – 2022. According to the report, both men and women also choose gender stereotypical jobs. Between 2017 and 2022, males working in skilled agriculture, plant and machine operation, craft and related trades (including miners, bricklayers, electricians, painters, locksmiths, and mechanics) surpassed 80%. In 2017 and 2022, women made up 96% and 97% of the total number of people employed in domestic work, respectively. This is an astonishingly high proportion for a low-wage job.
It was also clear that men dominate decision-making roles in South Africa. Male employees accounted for 66% of managers in 2017 and accounted for 67% in 2022. Despite constituting 57% of the electorate in the 2019 local government elections in South Africa, only 41% of female candidates were elected to local government councils, and only 32% were named executive Mayors or Mayors. Even within the church, there are concerns about diversity and reform. Women have been ordained as Anglican Church of Southern Africa pastors since 1992, but their real-world experiences show that there is still much room for improvement and openness. The fact that Rev. Ellinah Ntombi Wamukoya, Africa’s first female bishop, was installed in office in 2012, twenty years after women were admitted to the priesthood, exemplifies this.
The statistics presented show that addressing gender inequalities will not be accomplished simply by granting women more individual legal rights and liberties without also changing the systems that oppress women as a whole, even if they do so in a very limited sense and without taking intersectionality into account. Legal interventions are important, especially where laws were used to justify inequality and exclusion. These efforts, however, are futile due to how slowly things change at the household level. Gender inequality and discrimination are social constructions that are supported by the patriarchal system. As a fundamental unit of society, the family plays a role in the internalisation of gender stereotypes, biases, and prejudices and should be included in the solution.
Why Does Patriarchy Persist? is a book written by Naomi Snider and Carol Gilligan who argue that children are introduced to patriarchy as a societal structure at a young age. They claim it educates
girls to remain silent and submit. The advice to boys is to keep their emotions and sensitivity to themselves. Through socialisation, children internalise patriarchal beliefs, norms, and scripts that define how men and women should act and be in the world. They consequently construct their identities to fit the gender roles that they see as appropriate.
The problem with patriarchy is that even when we have formed conscious attitudes towards equality, an otherworldly, “ghost-like” larger framework of what women should be looms over us, making it difficult to disprove masculine and feminine biases. This could explain why women feel bad when they prioritise their own needs, feel uneasy when others do the same, and even feel compelled to impose their own version of womanhood on other women. When their sense of autonomy, position, or authority is threatened, or their vulnerability is revealed, men, particularly those who identify as feminists, may experience rage and guilt.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie illustrates some patriarchal scripts in her book We Should All Be Feminists. She discusses how females are encouraged to aim high and succeed but are cautioned against doing so excessively because it may negatively affect men and harm their chances of marriage. This is in line with society’s obsession with preserving women’s ability to marry. If a woman hasn’t married yet, her professional accomplishments are frequently criticised and dismissed.
As soon as they are deemed old enough, children are streamlined into the role of carer if they are female and protector if they are male. They internalise damaging images of men as stoic, macho creatures who don’t cry, and damaging images of women as pleasant, nurturing people who speak and dress appropriately.
As a result, girls grow into women who accept and tolerate dysfunctional interpersonal relationships. If we were unaware, #MeToo brought to light the true scope of sexual assault and harassment in the workplace, communities, and homes. It exemplified the harsh and pervasive impact of patriarchy: society places more pressure on women to conceal their suffering and anguish and remain silent than it does on them to speak up against injustice directed towards them. Making it difficult for women to demand equal pay, fair treatment at work, report sexual assault to police, and equality at home.
Men are also affected by patriarchy’s negative effects. Because they have been taught that they are not emotional beings, boys grow into men who would rather end their own lives than express their pain. They have an obligation to take charge, lead, offer, and provide financially, even if doing so occasionally necessitates using intimidation, theft, and cheating. They treat intimate relationships with women as transactional, causing emotional harm while claiming ignorance. They frequently emotionally neglect their loved ones, including their children and family. They develop into people who are unable to empathise with women and gladly exploit the injustices imposed by patriarchy.
We prioritise hierarchy over fairness due to patriarchy. Because of how it has shaped our attitudes and behaviours, we now have unrealistic expectations for what it means to be a man and a woman. It justifies the exclusion of people who do not fit neatly into the gender binary. What is worse is that these belief systems have come to be recognised as defining elements of culture and tradition. In a society where patriarchal standards are accepted as culture, nonconformity is frowned upon or, at the very least, unfit for a good man or woman. And there are consequences to defying patriarchal masculinity and femininity norms. Exclusion!
There is no evidence to support the claim that men are prime humans with superior talents to women due to biological differences. Many of us were raised with patriarchal value systems, which are reinforced by our expectations of ourselves, others, and the world. As a result, we need to be open about how patriarchy influences our worldviews and behaviours. From there, avoid thinking about ideas that force us to see men and women differently. Small, seemingly innocent labels, such as portraying men as better drivers, women with agency as enraged, some women as marriage material while others aren’t, and men as weak when they show emotion, alienate men, women, and gender non-conforming people.
Let us teach our children that empathy and love are far more valuable than hierarchy. Accept, too, that as a natural result of human development, people have the right to choose what, who, and how they exist in the world. Society cannot determine a person’s right to self-love, to love and be loved by others, or to exercise their own agency. It is unacceptable to exclude family members from household responsibilities such as cooking, childcare, cleaning, and financial contributions simply because of their gender. Let us commit to reinforcing inclusiveness and equality in our words and actions by revisiting and discarding harmful concepts.
Nonqaba Keatimilwe-Buthelezi is the founder of Advance Knowledge Centre for Development. She works as a researcher, policy analyst, and project manager with a focus on governance, human rights, inclusion, and sustainable development.