The Patriarchal System

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Women and Children are Still Property of Men

The purpose of this paper is to explore patriarchal values that reinforce violence towards women in intimate partner relationships. This paper argues that patriarchy and the social construction of masculinity reproduce male violence against women. The following sub-issues that that will be discussed are patriarchy, capitalism, the religion of Islam, and the construction of masculinity and femininity. All the sub-issues encompass patriarchy values which allows inmate partner violence.
Patriarchy
First and foremost, patriarchy is socially constructed which privileges men to dominate women both structurally and ideologically (Hunnicutt, 2009). Patriarchy can serve as a macro level which can involve bureaucracies and economics but can also serve as a micro level within a family and patterned behaviours between intimate partners (Hunnicutt, 2009). There is a correlation between the social structure of patriarchy and violence against women but it is not a direct cause of women abuse. Connell (1998) claims that the domination of men over women does not mean violence towards females directly but it can be supported by force (Connell, 1998). Dobash and Dobash (1979), states that patriarchal domination through force is reinforced by this social system which of allows gender hierarchy in relationships and makes it hard for women to face against dominance and control because her gender is socially constructed as wrong and subordinate. It is not just individualized but socially constructed that women struggle inside her home to be subjugated by her intimate partner and still face outside her home the shame and will usually remain silent about her abuse. Dobash and Dobash (1979) argue that h...

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...w York, New York: The Free Press

Ghanim, D. (2009). Gender and violence in the middle east. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger

Hunnicutt, G. (2009). Varieties of patriarchy and violence against women: Resurrecting patriarchy as theoretical tool. Violence Against Women, 15(5), 553-573.

Kimmel, S. M. (2010). Misframing men: The politics of contemporary masculinities. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press

Martin, D. (1981). Battered wives. San Francisco, California: Volcano Press

Peralta, R., Tuttle, L., & Steele, J. (2010). At the intersection of interpersonal violence, masculinity, and alcohol use: The experiences of heterosexual male perpetrators of intimate partner violence. Violence Against Women, 16(4), 387-409.

Simister, J. (2012). Gender based violence. New York, New York: Nova Science Publishers: The politics of contemporary masculinities.

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