- Question
Was patriarchy invented or inevitable?
Did male dominance arise through chance and choice, or was it bound to happen? This entry sets out the two positions on the origins of patriarchy — that it was invented, and that it was inevitable.
Position 1 of 2
Read this position →Patriarchy was invented
This position holds that male dominance is a historical creation rather than a given: on this account it emerged from particular arrangements of property, kinship and labour, and because it was made by human choices it could have been made otherwise.
Position 2 of 2
Read this position →Patriarchy was inevitable
This position holds that male dominance was bound to arise: given asymmetries in reproduction, in physical force and in the demands of early subsistence, proponents argue that something like patriarchy would have emerged in almost any human society.