PATRIARCHY

Patriarchy is defined as a social system in which males hold primary power and predominant in roles of political leadership,moral authority and control of property.But,I believe it is more than that.More than a social system,it is a shackle tied around the legs of us women to confine us in a cage of mankind’s making.It’s origin cannot be exactly traced though it has been found that pre-historic hunter gatherer civilizations were egalitarian and it manifested only after that.Many say that it started with the introduction of private property which then was traditionally handed over to men which etched it in our minds that men are intellectually,emotionally and physically superior than women.In addition to this,it also gave way to the idea that men are supposed to be the bread-earners of the house while women are supposed to be mere homemakers.These findings are of around 3000BCE and here we are in the 21st century,even after all the revolutions which changed the face of the earth ,we could not get a complete mental revolution and break these reins which currently control and hold back not only women but the whole world from blooming.Women have been pulverized continuously in the name of patriarchy since ages and it still hasn’t stopped.They have been powered over,mistreated and misunderstood but never emphathized with.And it is not just the men who have pushed this social structure forward but women too.Men who may have been threatened by the potential and piousness that women hold felt invigorating to crush them under their feet like worms once and for all so as to very conveniently cosset their ego giving them a false sense of pride which they relished in. Now,women too have been both victims and perpetrators of this,hand in hand with their male counterpart.They were a victim when they were shunned in the name of patriarchy like being denied the right to education or when women faced triple talaq.Then, a perpetrator when they chose to be mute spectators and did not muster up the courage to fight back and prevent it from happening to their next generation like the women who are in the favour of shunning women from the Sabarimala temple in pretense of old values or when mothers teach their sons not to cry or practice domestic bias.Then came the feminist movement which spread like wildfire across the globe as all the troubled women joined forces to rebel against the societal norms that held them back and try to grow out of the shackles that try to hold them.It’s effect was magnificent and it still runs like blood in our veins constantly trying to revolutionize everything around us.Patriarchy hasn’t just affected women by as if serving to them a platter full of insecurities with a pinch of demotivation as garnishing on top but adversely affected men too.Our male counterpart who once started this to berate women’s existence and weigh them down have been trapped in their own making as they struggle through problems like the societal pressures of being the bread earner leading to suicides when in family pressure,the idea of masculinity that makes their feminine side like the forbidden fruit from the tree,never to be swallowed whole and tasted.This has led to a staggering increase in mental illnesses in men as they are supposed to lock their emotions in a casket and send it off far away where they cannot be acknowledged because the society demands to be rough,tough,reticent men who do not cry which was imbibed in them as kids.Now,it also has led to crime due to something called toxic masculinity which calls out to men to be like those war maniacs in a violent video game and force their way through everything.So,a troubled weak soul will raise his hand,being the only outlet for his emotions, on a relatively ‘weaker,mute’ being to massage his ego and hence leading to sexual as well as physical violence.Hence,it is safe to say that patriarchy has battered apart the sanctum sanctorum residing in each being and exacerbated the human relations to an irreparable extent and no doubt,it will take generations but the due mental revolution will wipe out all the black filth and leave only the white hence peace.