(highlight:: Patriarchy is a new concept that rose out of the division of public v.s. private spaces
Summary:
10 or 12,000 years ago, humans settled down and formed societies.
With increased population, specialized classes emerged, including warriors, priests, merchants, and nobles. This led to the exclusion of women from public spaces and the rise of patriarchy.
However, patriarchy is a relatively new development in human society, suggesting it is not a necessary feature.
The old caveman narrative oversimplified gender roles in ancient times, according to Meg Conkey.
Transcript:
Speaker 1
What happened 10 or 12,000 years ago, those nomadic or semi-nomadic humans started settling down and farming. Some accumulated property. They formed villages, then bigger societies.
Speaker 4
Then with an increase in population density, you have a specialized warrior, a specialized priesthood, specialized merchant class, noble class. I actually refer to them in the book as male conspiracies to exclude women from the public spaces and the difference between public and private spaces arises for the first time and you Have the option to relegate women to the private space of the home and that really happens for the first time in that type of society.
Speaker 1
So most scholars now think male supremacy is new. Well, a mere 10 millennia old. In a species that's been around roughly 20 times longer than that, that would suggest patriarchy is not a necessary, baked-in feature of human society. Oh, and Meg Conkey says the old caveman narrative didn't just oversimplify the roles of men and women in deep time.)
- Time 0:27:06
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(highlight:: Why Did Patriarchy Come About?
Summary:
Men of 10,000 years ago wanted power over women.
It was a dick move. Meg Conkey argues that men felt insecure because they couldn't create life like women.
This led to a desire to control women's bodies.
Mel Conner believes men built the gender hierarchy simply because they could.
It was about power. Scholars say patriarchy spread as agricultural societies became colonial powers.
Transcript:
Speaker 2
Why did men of 10,000 years ago want to seize the upper hand at the expense of the women in their lives?
Speaker 1
Yeah, I mean, what a dick move.
Speaker 2
That's a dick move you've all been making ever since.
Speaker 1
And here's how Meg Conkey answered the why question.
Speaker 3
Some people will argue that men need to tell themselves or want to be in charge because they are left out of the whole reproductive process, really, in terms of being the one that can create Life. And even if people are informed that it can't happen without their sperm, nonetheless, it's a huge cultural difference. And in many societies, the creation and perpetuation of life is a really big deal, right?
Speaker 1
So guys have insecure egos because of what this amazing thing that women can do that they can't do that we can't do. And then the... So that makes us want to run for Congress.
Speaker 3
That's... Right. And then you can think you can control women's bodies by, you know, endorsing anti-abortion laws.
Speaker 4
Anyway... So there's a lot of people who are in the world who are in the world who are in the world. And I think that's a much better concept. Penis Envy seems kind of ridiculous to me.
Speaker 1
Me too. But even though Mel Conner thinks womb envy is real, he says there's a simpler reason men built the gender hierarchy and put themselves in the top spot.
Speaker 4
The most basic explanation for why male supremacy appeared after the rise of agriculture was that it was possible. Men controlled women as well as oppressed them because they could.
Speaker 2
And so it's about power, really. Right.
Speaker 1
And scholars say after patriarchy developed with the first societies to settle down and farm, those cultures became the first colonial powers and they spread systems of patriarchy To the places they colonized.)
- Time 0:29:42
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