The History of the Patriarchy (how sexual dimorphism created it)

Present_League9106 · 2023-05-14T19:39:26+00:00

Just for the record:

Monogamy in homo sapien predates the Agricultural Revolution. Codified marriage predates Charlesmagne, and considering that monogamy shows up in prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies, a form of marriage likely predates written records.

Women were actively part of agriculture. In the America's, farming was mostly done by the women of the tribe. Hunting was done more by the men of the tribe. This was looked down upon by the European settlers where farming was dominated by men (which is how I know about them through written records). Though, if we look back to the beginning of the Agriculture Revolution, women were likely just as much a part of it as men in Europe. Why this changed by the time European settlers came to the Americas, I can't really comment on.

Since, I believe, most primates are "polygamous", it's often assumed that homo sapien was/is as well. This isn't supported by archeological evidence. It appears as though we've been monogamous since the beginning. Birds are also one group that is often monogamous. Penguins were mentioned, but there's a number of other species, and I've heard it argued that birds are the only truly monogamous creature on this planet incorrectly.

"Polygamy" directly doesn't seem to explain sexual dimorphism considering that homo sapien has been monogamous and still shows sexual dimorphism, though I'm uncertain what does. I've heard it argued in feminist spaces that sexual dimorphism is what explains "The Patriarchy": basically that men are stronger therefore they are genetically hardwired to oppress women. This seems to come from early feminist writings that utilized phrenological rationales that suggest that men genetically became bigger to oppress women. These rationales, while evolutionary in nature, suggest a rapid evolution that isn't supported by archeological evidence. Essentially, when evolution as a theory was relatively new, people used it to explain all manner of things, including sexual dimorphism. Interestingly, though the science has been updated, this argument persists despite having little scientific merit.

Regarding concubines and harems: these were in no way common. They were usually the product of large, warring societies and were confined to the upper echelons. In cultures where polygamy is legal, this is still the case, though I believe polygamy is much less common than it was even in the areas where it's still legal. This reminds me of the problem with Patriarchy theory: cases where powerful (and rare) men are shown to act in a certain way, the case is then made that all men benefit from the imbalance shown by a few. As we can see with polygamy specifically, historically, this isn't necessarily true. Historically, we then get a biased interpretation of the lives of men throughout history. To phrase it differently, we don't get to see what the average life of a man (or woman) was like unless, in rare cases, art or writings exemplified their lives. It's difficult, then, to comment on men (or women) as a whole throughout society, even for today.

Regarding the statement that we live monogamously in the context of polygamy as vegans live in the context of meat eating, this simply isn't true. We are naturally monogamous. We are different than most other primates in this regard, but that might have more to do with our more cooperative nature as a species -- wars aside.

I'd caution against such generalizations due to evolution as a basis because so many, in the popular context, seem to harken back to the old phrenological interpretations that were so insidious back in their heyday. I still find it interesting that today we dredge up those old ideas and use them to explain the world around us.

Title	The History of the Patriarchy (how sexual dimorphism created it)
Author	ButtCloth77
Upvotes	0
Comments	3
Date	May 14, 2023 3:26 AM UTC (3 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/13h18uz/the_history_of_the_patriarchy_how_sexual/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/the-history-of-the-patriarchy-how-sexual.1219216 https://theredarchive.com/post/1219216

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