ABSTRACT
In the introduction to this book, I discussed Walby’s theory concerning the forms that patriarchy took. I would now like to return to this theory in order to ascertain whether all or some of these patriarchal forms still apply as we enter the twenty-first century. To recap, Walby argues that rather than there being one source of male domination, patriarchy is present in six forms of social structures: patriarchal production relations in the household; patriarchal relations in paid labour; the state; male violence against women; patriarchal sexual relations and patriarchal cultural institutions.1 We have seen that during the period covered by this book, women’s primary role has been seen as domestic, although class, race and ethnicity have always tempered this. An unspoken, and spoken, assumption has been present that women have domestic responsibilities that will affect their performances as workers. The double burden of paid work and domestic labour has been seen as uniquely a ‘woman’s problem’. Even the most radical of feminists in the nineteenth and early decades of the twentieth century failed to theorize about men participating in domestic labour. The strength of this assumption of the primacy of domesticity for women has changed over time but it has always been present. For example, in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, working-class women’s role as mother informed the debates around protective legislation. Later, during the Second World War, the double burden was again an issue for women workers and some rather half-hearted attempts were made to lighten the load, such as nurseries and shopping schemes. The most enduring solution to women’s double burden was the introduction of part-time work in most employment sectors. Part-time work has continued up to the present day to be regarded as the ideal solution for married women wanting or needing to work. However, part-time work
has always been seen to mean part-time commitment, which has consequently contributed to the strengthening of women’s subordinate status in the workplace and has adversely affected women’s wages and promotion opportunities.
