Patriarchal families and society

Clearly, we are still living in a patriarchal society with patriarchal families. A patriarchal family is when the father is the authority figure and everyone gains his approval or follows his instructions. Gender roles in family are usually shaped by this concept and being powerful or not in society is not only determined by sex but something more, including class and race. 

This week, I am going to focus on how values of patriarchal families are expressed in real life, in movies and in royal family. And how race and class may also have an impact on gender roles in family and society.

In real life:

I believe one of the reasons that cause difference of roles in family is due to the biological difference of female and male. Females give birth and stay home to rest and recover, so they can take care the kids. While males can not give birth so they have to go out and make a living. The roles are not reversible due to the difference in bodies. Usually mother and father go out to work or only father goes out to work. But rarely mother goes out to work and the father stays home and take care of the kids.

"It is the responsibility of the father to see to it that there is no shortage of the essential items in the house. On the other hand it is the responsibility of the mother nurture the children, properly feed them, care for their hygiene and they are in good health." 

In movies:

Bend it like Beckham (2002)

Sometimes, gender roles are affected by race too. The girls in the movie want to play football. Both Jules and Jess experience oppositions from their mothers but they are treated differently because of their races and family background. Jess's mum said "you don't even want to learn to cook" and she is told not to play football and should get married just like her sister. While Jules's mum said only those without a boyfriend would play sports. In an Indian family, parents are really strict to their daughters and they have to learn how to cook and get married. For Jules, from a western family, her mother did not mention anything in particular related to marriage.

If you want to look at more examples of normalizing male dominance in movies nowadays
click the link below:
Normalizing male dominance in films

In royal family:

The line of succession (Full list)

1. The Prince of Wales
2. The Duke of Cambridge
3. Prince Henry of Wales
4. The Duke of York
5. Princess Beatrice of York

How about the factor of class? Look at the top 5 on the line of succession, four of them are male and that implies the priority of succession is male first. Who is sovereign also means who is in control and dominant. Traditionally, in a royal family, they follow even more traditional rules about patriarchy than other people of middle class.

Yet, some try to challenge it:

Most of the Bollywood movies treat women in the typical patriarchal way, however in some movies the movie makers try to challenge this norm. In Mother India (1957). The mother shoots her own son in order to save a friend's daughter - the moneylender who practically ruined her life with his unreasonable loans. Other examples including fighting against husband, divorces and justice.

For more examples on the list, please click here.