Are Humans Hard Wired to Prefer Men as Leaders?

[DrZoidberg]

Patriarchy? I do not know what that is, though I've seen plenty of unwarranted claims about something called 'Patriarchy'. But as to whether human males have a predisposition to prefer males as leaders, I do not know. It's an interesting matter for research, though perhaps not doable because it's tabboo.

I think this is a good time to define what patriarchy is. In this thread we're throwing the word around as if it's obvious to everybody. But I don't think it is.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy

Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property.[1][2][3] Some patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title are inherited by the male lineage.

Patriarchy is associated with a set of ideas, a patriarchal ideology that acts to explain and justify this dominance and attributes it to inherent natural differences between men and women. Sociologists hold varied opinions on whether patriarchy is a social product or an outcome of innate differences between the sexes.

Historically, patriarchy has manifested itself in the social, legal, political, religious, and economic organization of a range of different cultures.[4] Even if not explicitly defined to be by their own constitutions and laws, most contemporary societies are, in practice, patriarchal.[5][6]

The above quote is full of relative value judgements. What does it mean to have "primary power" or "predominate in roles of political leadership".

Is it a question of statistics? Whatever has more political power makes it patriarchal or matriarchal? A society open to female leadership, is that patriarchal? That would mean that just the fact that we've had any female political leader would disqualify it from being a patriarchy. At what point does a society go from being a patriarchy to gender equal? How gender equal does it need to be for it to not be a patriarchy anymore?

Add to that the very common tic among feminist writers to just throw the word in to represent anything they don't like. Even when it makes no sense. I'm not saying they represent all feminists or even the big names of feminist thinkers. But it is pervasive and only adds to the confusion about what we're talking about. It's comparable to writers discussing racism, who throw that word in, without bothering much with defining it's limits or applicability. It's become to a large extent a bogey man.

In this thread, what do we mean when we're referring to the patriarch? What would a non-patriarchal and gender equal society look like? How equal does it need to be? If we use the term we must know why we are using it.

And just like you were talking about, being a sexist and a racist in today's society is taboo. Which I agree with. That's a good taboo to have. But it does get in the way of discussing it.

Me personally, the only reason I come to this forum is because I'm anonymous. I discuss things here openly and honestly in a way I do nowhere else. Because of the taboo. Questioning any aspect of what is patriarchy makes us guilty of sexism by association.

We should always question anything. If only to better understand our own position, no matter how virtuous it may be.