Patriarchy is a word that is often used in the study of women’s history and feminist theory, and often misunderstood. In this article you’ll find answers to some of the common questions about the word ‘’patriarchy’’ means and how its’ used.
By Ter Manyang Gatwech, Kampala,Uganda
Opinion.
3rd October, 2014(Nyamilependia) — what is patriarchy?  Patriarchal describes a general structure in which men have power over women. Society is the entirety of relations of a community. A patriarchal society consists of a male-dominated power structure throughout organized in the social status quo.
A patriarchy, from the ancient Greek patriarchs, was a society where power was held by and passed down through the elder males. When modern historians and sociologists describe a ‘’patriarchal society’’, they mean that men hold the positions of power; head of the family unit, leader of social group, boss in the workplace and heads of government. The best example is South Sudan because South Sudan is where country women are still under control of men in public sector or private sector.
Or patriarchy is defined as a system in which men hold the social, culture, and legal power. The word ‘’patriarchy’’ comes from Greek and liberally societies, men and hold positions of principle authority, while women are subordinate and often oppressed. Systems of patriarchy have manifested in cultures around the world in social, legal, and political systems.
What is the cause of patriarchy?
Evidence suggests that prehistoric hunter gather cultures were egalitarian, where men and women were equal. Patriarchal societies seem have evolved with the introduction of agriculture and domestication of animals, but scholars are unsure of exact cause and why patriarchal systems are so widespread. Most sociologist agree that patriarchal  doesn’t have a biological cause, but is primarily the result of social and culture conditioning which is passed from generation to generation
What is patriarchy in history?
Societies been where are dominated over women have been prevent in history going back thousands of years. Evidence from legal codes dates back to at 3100 BCE in the Accidents in the Ancient Near East. In Ancient Greece, it was taken for granted what were morally, intellectually, and physically inferior to men. Aristotle wrote that women were the property of men, and that their role in society was strictly to reproduce and server men in the household .Aristotle’s views on women had a great influence on let Western philosophy.
What is patriarchy in Feminism?
In feminist theory, patriarchy is used to describe modern societies where men and women have unequal power relations. Patriarchies are unjust social systems that are oppressive to women, and are identified by certain features. Women in representation in government, and more likely to do homework and raise children and to be paid less than men foe doing the same work. Oftentimes in a patriarchal society, women’s sexually is treated negatively, and women are more misrepresented in media and popular culture. The word ‘’patricahy’’ as used in feminist  theory also implies privilege, where men have implicit advantages in society that women do not have.
- What do we mean by gender inequality in society like South Sudan?
To analyze causes of gender inequality in South Sudan inequality, we need to know what we mean by gender inequality. How can we conceive of and talk about gender inequality in ways that are general enough to apply across the range of relevant phenomena, consistent enough to minimize conceptual ambiguities, and precise enough to be analytically effective? Gender inequality has been extraordinarily diverse and wide spread. Women and men in South Sudan are unequal in every conceivable way in endless circumstances, both immediate and enduring, by both objective criteria and subjective experience. So what counts as gender inequality? Can we characterize it in ways that let us confidently and impartially assess when there is more or less of it?
2. How is gender inequality symbolized and reproduced in every life?
To start our investigation of the causes of gender inequality, we will consider how people experience and act out gender in their day to day lives. We want to think about the most basic questions. Why and when do women and men act differently? Why and men do people respond differently to women than men? How do all these private individual actions when taken together over time influence the understanding of gender in a culture and gender inequality?
- What is the role of sexuality?
Sexuality has been evoked in multiple ways in the study of gender inequality. Some have considered it as a possible motivating cause for inequality, others have explored how gender inequality can mold the experience and practice of sexuality, and others have tried to theoretically incorporate sexuality as a peculiar tension between and men that mediates both the causes and effects of gender inequality. Essentially, everyone recognizes sexuality is critically important to gender inequality, but we lack agreement or clarity on how it matters to the society like South Sudan.
- What is the role of violence and intimidation in the relationships between men and women in South Sudan?
Most theoretical approaches to gender inequality suggest that violence between women and men in South Sudan plays a role in sustaining inequality; some also point toward violence as an initial cause. A recurring issue concerns the degree to which violence is an expression or result of gender inequality or, alternatively, is a cause of inequality. The separate roles of rape, harassment, and domestic violence, and their relationship to each other are another critical question. Much research and argument has also been focused on the question of women’s aggressive impulses and actions.
- What role does ideology play in determining the relations between men and women?
Ideology is near the center of almost all efforts to explain gender inequalities. People’s conceptions of masculinity and femininity, ideas concerning the fairness of differential treatment or expectations of women and men, internalized schema that evoke different judgments of women’s and men’s actions, rules about proper male and female behavior applied to children- all these and more concern the influence of ideology on gender identities, differential treatment of women and men, and the and    organization and persistence of gender inequality. Conversely, each ideological belief that symbolizes, legitimates, invokes guides, induce, or helps sustain gender inequality is itself a product of gender inequality. To untangle these complex causal interdependencies, we must always attend carefully to two kinds of distinction. First , we must consistently recognize differences in levels of social organization, including, among others, organizations among
others, social structure and culture, organizations, social network, social process, and individual actors. While it is tempting to treat ideological beliefs as diffuse entities unconnected to identifiable people, organizations or structures, the analytical results are poor. Second, we must consistently distinguish between contemporaneous  cause (e.g;) the ways that internalized schema can influence interactions) and asynchronous or historical causes (e.g.; the ways that changes in domestic induce different ideas about women’s place).
Inclusion women and men should participate equally in public affairs and therefore, all South Sudanese should leave a ways those stereotypes  them in order South Sudan can progress in term of development.
By Ter Manyang Gatwech, a finalist student at Cavendish University Uganda and pursing a Bachelor’s Degree of Arts in Public Administration and Management. Chairman of Gawaar Community in Uganda and you can reach him through email address; termanyanggatwech@yahoo.com or Face Book above name.
