history of male domination

History of male domination
(Coordinator Comment)

Looking back over recorded history, one can see how it has been the culture of war that has perpetuated male domination. As stated in the study, Why There Are So Few Women Warriors:

"With the advent of internal war, patrilocality, and exogamy, there came a profound shift in male-female relations. The male monopolization of warfare was instituted and extended to hunting (in order to preclude the use of weapons by women) and to the initiation rites of the young (male) warriors. The inequality of power between men and women was institutionalized in a way from which we have never recovered."

The inequality of power between men and women was further strengthened with the origin of the state, in which war played a decisive role. The rulers of the state were those who had been victorious in war, and as a result, from its origins the state has been dominated by men.

Male domination in the family and economic enterprises, eventually including the rise of great capitalist enterprises, has historically mirrored the male domination of the military, the state, elite education and religion. In Europe and its colonies, the legal status of women did not change very much from its Roman precedents until the last few centuries.

Violence against women is pervasive in all societies, and much, although not all, can be attributed to the culture of war (see History of the Culture of War). Over the course of history, violence in the family has closely paralleled the subservient status of women, and the culture of war. The most obvious effect is that of wife-beating.