Patriarchy and Sexual Division of Labour — Systems of Kinship (UPSC Sociology)

Patriarchy refers to a system of male dominance where men hold primary power in social, economic, and familial institutions. The sexual division of labour assigns productive work to men and reproductive/care work to women. This module examines key theories explaining patriarchy, feminist responses, and the structural roots of gender inequality — essential for UPSC Sociology Paper-II and Gender Studies.

1) Conceptual Overview — Gender, Work, and Power

Patriarchy operates through structures (economy, family, polity) and ideologies (religion, culture, language) that legitimise male authority. The sexual division of labour assigns women unpaid domestic and emotional work while men dominate paid and political domains. The persistence of patriarchy lies in its cultural normalisation — not merely force but consent.

2) Marxist Theory of Patriarchy — Engels

Friedrich Engels in “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State” (1884) argued that patriarchy arose with the emergence of private property and class society. In early communal societies, kinship and labour were egalitarian. With surplus accumulation, men controlled property and lineage, subordinating women to preserve inheritance — marking the “world historic defeat of the female sex.”

3) Radical Feminist Theory — Patriarchy as a Universal System

Radical feminists such as Kate Millett (Sexual Politics), Shulamith Firestone (The Dialectic of Sex), and Andrea Dworkin locate patriarchy in male control over women’s bodies and sexuality, independent of capitalism. Patriarchy predates class and operates through sexual domination, violence, and ideology.

Firestone argued that patriarchy roots in biological reproduction — pregnancy and child-rearing enslave women; only technological liberation (contraception, artificial reproduction) can achieve equality. Millett stressed cultural control — patriarchy maintained through literature, religion, and family ideology.

4) Socialist Feminism — Dual Systems Theory

Socialist feminists (e.g., Heidi Hartmann, Juliet Mitchell, Sylvia Walby) combine Marxist and Radical views. They argue patriarchy and capitalism are distinct but mutually reinforcing systems. Patriarchy organises women’s unpaid labour in households; capitalism benefits through cheap labour and reproduction of the workforce.

Sylvia Walby identified six structures of patriarchy: (1) household production, (2) paid work, (3) state, (4) male violence, (5) sexuality, and (6) cultural institutions. She distinguishes between private patriarchy (household-based) and public patriarchy (workplace/state).

5) Liberal Feminism — Equal Opportunity Perspective

Liberal feminists (e.g., Betty Friedan, John Stuart Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft) attribute patriarchy to discriminatory laws and customs rather than deep structures. They seek reform through education, employment, and legal equality. Patriarchy persists due to socialisation into gender roles rather than innate inferiority.

Critics argue liberal feminism underplays structural oppression, assuming patriarchy can be reformed without altering economic and cultural power relations.

6) Contemporary Indian Context — Persistence & Change

Indian patriarchy operates through caste, religion, and family systems. Leela Dube, Kumkum Sangari, and Nandita Shah highlight its intersectional nature — patriarchy intertwines with class, caste, and community.

7) UPSC Answer Toolkit — How to Write

• Start: Define patriarchy & division of labour.
• Use flowcharts: Engels → Firestone → Walby → Indian feminists.
• Include thinkers: Engels (material), Millett (cultural), Walby (structural).
• Indianise: cite Dube & Agarwal.
• Conclude: Patriarchy adapts to modernity — from domestic to digital domains.