We all know we live in a patriarchal society. But how did we end up here? That’s the subject author Angela Saini talks about in her book ‘The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule’. The author takes a scientific approach towards the subject and goes deep into the roots of male domination.

Patriarchy isn’t an absolute

Saini takes a long hard look at the roots of patriarchy and the biological differences that cause it. Rather than giving her absolute thoughts on the subject, the author chooses to introduce the readers to multiple thinkers, their theories, and their origins. This helps the reader form their own opinion rather than take the author’s words as absolute.

Saini traces the origins of patriarchy back to chimpanzees and bonobos where the former were patriarchal communities and the lateral matriarchal. So, the concept of patriarchy existed even before the human species saw the light of day.

According to Saini, patriarchy isn’t absolute, rather it is an ever-changing concept that’s constantly reworked and reinforced. “By thinking about gendered inequality as rooted in something unalterable within us, we fail to see it for what it is: something more fragile that has to be constantly remade and reasserted,” writes Saini in The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule’.

The author talks about the various cultures worldwide where women were denied property and ownership of land and were oppressed in every which way. At the same time, she also cites studies that have shown that human society didn’t start as patriarchal. There were communities in the Bronze Age and the Neolithic period where male superiority didn’t exist, rather it was matrilineal or possibly even matriarchal.

As Saini explains in her book, the entire society has never been completely patriarchal. She cites examples of matrilineal communities like the Nairs of Kerala, the Khasis of Meghalaya, or the Mosuo of western China who have had considerable freedom around the subjects of property and even labour and sex.

Through her book, Saini doesn’t tell you what you should think about patriarchy. Rather, she encourages you to make your own opinions regarding the subject based on her research and the theories she has presented.

‘The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule’ is an interesting read, especially if you are looking for a scientific reading of patriarchy and women’s oppression through the ages. It doesn’t present a one-sided view of patriarchy as a constant social event but puts forth facts that also showcase the other side of the coin.

About the book

For fans of Sapiens and The Dawn of Everything, The Patriarchs is a groundbreaking exploration of the origins of patriarchy. It was published in spring 2023 by 4th Estate (UK & Commonwealth), Beacon Press (United States), and Hanser Blau (Germany). In this bold and radical new book, Angela Saini goes in search of the true roots of gendered oppression, uncovering a complex history of how it first became embedded in societies and spread across the globe from prehistory into the present. Travelling to the world’s earliest known human settlements, analysing the latest research findings in science and archaeology, and tracing cultural and political histories from the Americas to Asia, she overturns simplistic universal theories to show what patriarchy is and how far back it goes.

About the author

Angela Saini is an award-winning British science journalist and broadcaster based in New York. Her previous book, Superior: The Return of Race Science, was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize and named the book of the year by Nature, Financial Times, and NPR’s Science Friday. Her book Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong has been translated into 14 languages.

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