Patriarchy and Matriarchy in Hinduism and Islam

Throughout history, men have been given superiority and dominance over women in the majority of religious settings. There have been few religions and cultures that do the opposite and see their women as having superiority and dominance over men. On one hand, the cultures and religions that see men as being dominant are patriarch. On the other hand, the cultures and religions that see women as being dominant are matriarch. Every religion and culture has an impact on whether societies tend to follow a matriarch, or a patriarch lifestyle. Hindu and Islam religions and cultures are two religions that tend to follow a patriarch lifestyle, but with few exceptions.

According to the U.S. History in Context attained from the University of Miami Otto G. Richter Library, Matriarchy is defined as “a political system in which women are the dominant political actors” (U.S. History in Context). On the contrary, Patriarchy is “a social phenomenon in which males have the privilege of dominance over females, both visibly and subliminally” (U.S. History in Context). When both of the words matriarchy and patriarchy are broken down to their roots meaning, they give us their literal definition. The word “-Arch” translates to rule, while “matri-”, and “patri-” translate to mother and father. When the root words are put together they translate to rule of the father in patriarchy, or rule of the mother in matriarchy.

To begin with, Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world. Hinduism has no known founder, prophet, or primary set of beliefs. According to the Idaho State Journal, “Hinduism has many deities. The primary three are Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer” (Jenkins, “What is Hinduism?”) Hinduism is an ex...

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...ieties only do so due to their cultural views and not their religious views. Mothers in Islam are not given as much importance as those in Hinduism are. In Hinduism a mother is very well respected and viewed as a prestigious person. But, Hindu mothers who fail to deliver a boy to her husband will live her life feeling as if she failed her husband, but Islam women won’t live with that resentment. Another difference in the two religions and cultures is that Islam women may be as loyal as Hindu women during marriage, but after marriage the Islam woman will remarry another man, while the Hindu women won’t remarry even if her husband has perished. Noticing the similarities of Hindu and Islam beliefs, as well as their cultural beliefs, we can observe that Hindu and Islamic societies observe men as being superior over women, making both religions and societies patriarchal.