Male Dominance

So I know it's back to school time for a few folks out there, and I thought I'd do a little post reflecting some history/sociology regarding male dominance. When I was still in school, I took a sociology class, and one day we focused on this subject. I recall watching a film debating whether or not a patriarchal society is human nature. The main view that the video was trying to portray was that no, it is not human nature. It argued that male dominance is at the heart of the world's problems, and we must get rid of patriarchy and get rid of it fast. I mean, let's face it - for the most part, things like government are a very male institution. And even with progression, hierarchy and violence still rule the world.

Now comes the history. Ten thousand years ago, farming really had an impact on gender roles. In hunter gatherer societies, men were needed for hunting - but not much else. The women did all of the real work that kept the small societies functioning. The social fabric of the time would have collapsed without the input of the women. But, as the groups began moving into villages, the status of men dropped steeply. Their hunting roles weren't really needed anymore, and that caused resentment. The result? Raw material for a revolution. And that is exactly what happened. Women have always been neglected in history, and nearly all historical sources are written by men. In those days (and still in some places today), power was gained by terror. Laws destroyed women's freedom, and they were often secluded from men and forced to veil themselves. Essentially, women were private property.

Over the years, females in our Western culture have obviously gained much more status and recognition in society. A long time ago, mass communication obviously wasn't an option - there was no radio, newspaper, books, nothing. That led to a select group of people making all of the decisions. Nowadays, though, we do have those tools. The video argued that patriarchy no longer makes sense as an institution. Mass communication allows for democracy.

There are some who argue that male dominance is human nature, simply due to factors such as different hormones, or the fact that men are generally physically stronger. At the time that I took the class, I knew that DD and spanking were something that interested me, but I was still in that awkward phase where I felt guilty about it. I felt guilty because I felt that as a strong and independent woman, I didn't need a man to tell me what to do, or punish me when I didn't do it. I began to wonder if the video was right - is patriarchy all in our heads, and not in our genes? Was it simply the way society ended up due to various factors over time? I'm interested to know what everyone thinks. This is an unusual post, I know...but I thought it might be interesting to shake things up a little and see where people stand on this. Comment and let me know!

P.S. Blogger is being funny and is not allowing me to comment on anyone's blogs, not even my own! Not sure what's up with that. It says that my account does not have access to the page. Has anyone else ever had this problem???