PATRIARCHY IS THE LEAST NOTICED YET THE MOST SIGNIFICANT STRUCTURE OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY Rishika Arya UPSC Preparation Thu, Feb 10, 2022, at ,12:40 AM In every society, some of the people have a greater share of valued resources – money, property, education, health, and power – than others. These social resources can be divided into three forms of capital – economic capital in the form of material assets and income; cultural capital such as educational qualifications and status; and social capital in the form of networks of contacts and social associations. Often, these three forms of capital overlap and one can be converted into the other. Patterns of unequal access to social resources/ the exclusion of people from participating in social events are commonly called social inequality. Social inequality is a universal phenomenon in all societies.Social inequality arises from unequal distribution of resources, privileges, power and access to opportunities. Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power, predominate in the roles of political leadership, moral authority, special privilege and control of the property. Men are also centre and authoritative figure in the domain of the family. Patriarchy has been one of the dominant features of the world particularly of Indian society and specially for females. Which is why patriarchy is one of the significant yet the least noticed component of social inequality that has been persistent in the society. Least noticed because It is often taken into its natural and non-amendable form. However, in certain societies such as of Assam, Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh the values of society is based on matriarchal form, where women not men plays significant roles in family.The origins of patriarchy were first advanced in the nineteenth century, particularly by German social theorists and scholar J. J. Bachofen asserted that human society had originally been a matriarchy in which mothers were all-powerful. Once men had private property, they became very concerned about passing it on to their own heirs and attempted to control women's sexual lives to assure that offspring were legitimate. This led to the development of the nuclear family, which was followed by the development of the state, in which men's rights over women were legitimized through a variety of means, a process Engels describes as the "world historical defeat of the female gender." Patriarchy disempowered women. Right from birth women face inequality. Most of the parents don’t even want their girl child to be born. This was evidenced in 2018-19 Economic Survey’s “Son meta preference”. After birth, boy child gets better education, nutrition, clothing compared to girl child. Elder girls had to quit their education to take care of younger siblings. Even if they manage to continue their education, their performance is affected as they need to help their mothers in household. In such a circumstances, the household work which is generally performed by women lost its significant, and thus their respect in the family. This manifests into a boy becoming a better individual than a girl in terms of possessing knowledge, wealth etc.Despite bringing legislation such as Hindu Succession Act etc, property transfer to girl child is minuscule. Data on Land records shows us that – in India, only 28% of women own land (both individually and jointly) despite having 50% share in overall population and 2.3% jointly by one or both genders. Employers show discrimination against women candidates fearing their performance might reduce during pregnancy/ due to household responsibilities. Increasing crime against women makes parents of girl child sceptical in sending her to a better educational institution/better employment opportunity far off from their native place. Even if women manage to cross all the barriers and secure a good employment, their financial autonomy is still almost negligible.So, when the great potential is side-lined and excluded from decision-making, the family can’t be upgraded from its existing social status, class, and circle. When a woman doesn’t evolve, it puts a direct and severe impact on the upbringing of children. They do not become focused individuals. They receive a poor education, undergo substance abuse, identity crisis, worthlessness and marginalisation. Such circumstances leads to social inequality. The patriarchal system is justified in a manner that the preference for submissive wives as a tactic to control women is celebrated. Young energetic women with progressive thinking are discouraged. They are often subjected to taunts and harassment in their family. The idea that the best women submit to men is a strategic tool to strengthen traditional masculinity, aimed at maintaining male dominance over women. Such a dominance of one gender over other has encouraged subjugation of women, harassment, discrimination, torture, rape, honour killings, and what not. It is therefore important to make up policies for their social upliftment.The constitution of India guarantees several rights such as the right to equality in Article 14 and 15, right to property- Art. 300-A, right to life and personal liberty and right to Privacy under Article 21 of Constitution to all its citizens irrespective of gender. A lot has been changed since then, instead of earmarking patriarchy, the focus of responsible and sensible families is on respecting varied women’s involvements, individualities, acquaintance and influence, and facilitating women empowerment so that they can grow to realise their full rights, and consequently reduce social inequalities.And to raise women’s position, government come up with numbers of schemes and policies such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao to save girl child and encourage literacy in girls, Manila E-Haat for promoting women empowerment and self-help groups, women helpline scheme, SWADHAR Greh to as to rehabilitate women in difficult circumstances, The Support to Training and Employment Programmes for Women (STEP) to provide skills that give employment to women, NARI SHAKTI PURASKAR to recognise efforts made by women, especially vulnerable and marginalised women and many more as it is urgent to protect women from patriarchal subordination. It is that stereotype ideology that discriminates feminine and masculine, assigns different roles, rights and responsibilities to women and men. But those so-called ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ qualities are human qualities and not specific to either men or women. Since all works are done by both men and women, there is no reason to differentiate works based on sex. Which is why the principle of equal pay for equal work was enumerated in our Indian Constitution under Article 39 (d).To conclude, we can say that women comprises of 50% of the population. Those 50% of population are not in service to other 50% of population. They have their individuality, their right, their self respect and most importantly they are master of their soul. Patriarchy is limitations on all those rights and privileges that they would enjoy otherwise. It is a form of social inequality that goes unnoticed because somehow and in some form we have all accepted it. And, justified it. Thus, patriarchy is the least noticed yet most significant structure of social inequality elimination of which could be unburdening the burden placed by patriarchy upon 50% of world’s population which is of women.