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A review by rebecca_arch_art
The Patriarchs: The Origins of Inequality by Angela Saini
4.0
Talk about a mind-opening opener - the first chapter of this book points out that in a fantastical, total reimagining of the world in Planet of the Apes, the society is still patriarchal. I had to put the book down, stare at the wall and mutter “I guess there are some limits to the human imagination after all… huh…”
This book aims to seek out the answer to one of the biggest arguments that support a patriarchy - that it is somehow the natural order of things, it was and always will be the structure we return to, despite the odd annoying feminist uprising.
The chapters take you through cases for the defence, such as the animal kingdom, soviet states, Indian matrilocality, Iranian politics, and gender politics. What emerges is this realisation that how we structure our societies is all made-up nonsense. We have a choice, rather than lazily relying on what apes did/do, or what the prevailing religious nonsense would have us do.
It all boils down to power. The haves and the have-nots. The slow, pervasive fog that creeps across a civilisation, slowly eroding the power of some and depositing it in the laps of others.
Patriarchy is not natural. Religion is not natural. Politics are not natural. Instead we should be structuring ourselves in a way that is logical and deliberate. It makes no sense to imprison half of the global population for any reason. It has been shown that with deliberate levelling tactics used on the parts of nature that ARE inescapable (women still are the only ones who give birth) that there is no need to hamstring women, and all can actively participate in life. It is incumbent upon us all to fight against the absurd just because it is historical. And to realise that our history has never got it “right” so why do we try so hard to emulate its flaws.
This book aims to seek out the answer to one of the biggest arguments that support a patriarchy - that it is somehow the natural order of things, it was and always will be the structure we return to, despite the odd annoying feminist uprising.
The chapters take you through cases for the defence, such as the animal kingdom, soviet states, Indian matrilocality, Iranian politics, and gender politics. What emerges is this realisation that how we structure our societies is all made-up nonsense. We have a choice, rather than lazily relying on what apes did/do, or what the prevailing religious nonsense would have us do.
It all boils down to power. The haves and the have-nots. The slow, pervasive fog that creeps across a civilisation, slowly eroding the power of some and depositing it in the laps of others.
Patriarchy is not natural. Religion is not natural. Politics are not natural. Instead we should be structuring ourselves in a way that is logical and deliberate. It makes no sense to imprison half of the global population for any reason. It has been shown that with deliberate levelling tactics used on the parts of nature that ARE inescapable (women still are the only ones who give birth) that there is no need to hamstring women, and all can actively participate in life. It is incumbent upon us all to fight against the absurd just because it is historical. And to realise that our history has never got it “right” so why do we try so hard to emulate its flaws.