Heteropatriarchy

As a social system, heteropatriarchy perceives heterosexuality and patriarchy as normal while other configurations are considered abnormal.[4] It then perpetuates an environment of oppression and inequality for racial and sexual minority groups.[5] Heteropatriarchy is a facet of popular feminist analysis used to explain modern hierarchical social structure, which is dependent upon and includes the perspective of gender roles, based on a system of interlocking forces of power and oppression. It is commonly understood in this context that men typically occupy the highest positions of power and women experience the bulk of social oppression.[6] This system of socio-political dominance is reinforced by gender norms, which ascribe traits of femininity and masculinity to men and women;[7] whereby cisgender heterosexual men are favored and are routinely remunerated for presenting masculine traits. Conversely, women or people who display traits deemed feminine receive less societal privilege. Historically this has manifested in economic disadvantages such as unequal pay, or the inability for women to own land.[8]

The practice of legal (and social) culture of relegating gender to the realm of "women's issues" and sexual orientation to the realm of "sexual minorities' issues” is fundamental to a heteropatriarchal society.[9] Heterosexual men are not only given primacy over other gender and sexual minorities, but are also encouraged and rewarded.[10] On the microscopic level, heteropatriarchy could be evident in consumption habits and relationships while on the macroscopic level it is demonstrated by the glass ceiling, marriage, and the legal control over female bodies.[11]

From a historical point of view, the term patriarchy refers to the father as the power holder inside the family hierarchy, and therefore, women become subordinate to the power of men. Patriarchy is a social system in which men have predominant power and are dominant and have privilege in roles such as: political, economical, societal, and social roles. With the emergence of queer theory around the 1980s and the 1990s and the questioning of the heteronormativity and the gender binary, this kind of domination is not only described in terms of sex or gender (the predominance of men over woman, or the masculine over the feminine) but also in terms of sexuality (the heteronormativity, or the heterosexuality above other sexual orientations and the cisgender over other identities).[1][12] The term heteropatriarchy has evolved from the previous, less specific term 'patriarchy' to emphasize the formation of a man dominated society based upon the cultural processes of sexism or heterosexism.[13]

Since ancient times, heteropatriarchy has shaped the way how societies across the world have viewed masculinity and femininity. This societal system has had negative effects on societies, which have beat the test of time and are still apparent in modern days. Throughout Ancient China, it is shown by the example of emperors being male with dominant power. Women and people that showed feminine traits were objectified and oppressed. Women were seen as obedient housewives whose main purpose was to serve males.[14] Due to this, women's voice has been ignored and suppressed. Leading to a system that grew into a society denying women rights and that they were dehumanized.

While there is no definitive origin of where heteropatriarchy came from, there are various places and societies that may have contributed to its creation. One of the places to contribute is the ancient Greeks. It has been argued that there are records that show that the ancient Greek system used sex and gender as the very foundation of human identity and the very basis of social organization.[1] The Greeks had a critical role in the institutionalization of patriarchy in the Western world and also had an impact on Roman imperialism that furthered their sex/gender ideas into modern arrangements.[1] Recently, scholars have begun to document the Greeks' critical role in the institutionalization of patriarchy in the Western World. Synthesizing the work of such scholars, this Section will show how the Greek sex/gender system, as mediated through Roman imperialism, gave rise to the sex/gender conceptions that birthed contemporary arrangements. [1]

Another cause that has led to heteropatriarchy is heteropaternalism, where it's the premise where heteropatriarchy is established in a domestic arrangement.[5] Meaning that the father of a house is the leader and center power of a family household, and is in charge of any social arrangements. Even though heteropatriarchy and heteropaternalism mainly defines the perspective of patriarchy that make up a mindset in people's eye that male gender is seen as strong, facetious, and capable. While women in the other hand are perceived as lower class and weak.[15]

This ideology has been promoted through colonization and spreading of Eurocentric culture, reaching hegemony around the world and removing other gender systems as well as other ways of understanding society, genders or eroticism.[1][5]

One of the main foundations of heteropatriarchy is the normalization of the nuclear family as the only acceptable family unit, manifesting this societal system into modern day.[16]

Heteropatriarchy has regulated the bodies of Indigenous women, queer, and trans people and sets out to destroy, control, and manipulate these difference into hierarchies.[17] The effects of heteropatriarchy have disproportionately affected minority groups, indigenous people, and the lgbtqia+ community.