Q: Explain how the pattern of patriarchy is being altered in a family and at the workplace in the present context.

Model Answer:

Sylvia Walby defines patriarchy as a system where men dominate, oppress, and exploit women. She notes a historical shift from “Private Patriarchy” (exclusion from public life, household-based control) to “Public Patriarchy” (subordinated inclusion in public spheres), framing its modern alteration across institutions.

Alterations of Patriarchy

Family and Workplace Dynamics

• Symmetrical Roles: Moving away from traditional male-breadwinner models, Young and Willmott observe the rise of the “Symmetrical Family”, characterized by joint conjugal roles and shared decision-making.
• Legal Empowerment: Equal inheritance and anti-domestic violence laws have fractured absolute male authority over household assets.
• Critical Persistence: However, Arlie Hochschild argues patriarchy merely adapted. Working women now face a “Second Shift” (dual burden of paid labor and unpaid domestic work), while Duncombe and Marsden highlight the “Triple Shift” (adding emotional labor).

• Workforce Participation: Liberal feminists like Betty Friedan championed education, driving female labor participation and cracking the “Glass Ceiling”. Institutional biases are increasingly challenged by equal pay and anti-harassment policies.
• Critical Persistence: Despite progress, patriarchy mutates through “Pink-Collarization” (segregating women into low-paying care jobs) and the “Motherhood Penalty”. Concurrently, Christine Williams identifies the “Glass Escalator”, where men in female-dominated sectors get promoted faster, while women face the “Glass Cliff” (promoted only during corporate crises).

Globally, the #MeToo movement has radically challenged entrenched workplace patriarchy. Conversely, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a global “She-cession,” forcing women out of the workforce due to childcare demands, proving patriarchal family norms still dictate economic participation. Countering this, the Nordic model’s “use-it-or-lose-it” paternity leaves actively aim to equalize domestic roles.

Conclusion

While socio-economic shifts have successfully weakened classical private patriarchy, it has mutated into resilient forms of public patriarchy. As Catherine Hakim’s Preference Theory suggests, achieving true egalitarianism requires not just institutional reforms, but a fundamental restructuring of societal attitudes toward caregiving and labor.