I always find it really tough to rate non-fiction, but have found it especially hard to gather my thoughts on this title.

As with Inferior and Superior, this was an enlightening and unsettling read. However, I found this Saini’s most difficult book to follow so far.

I think Saini set herself a really hard challenge in trying to explain the origin of the patriarchy. While I was convinced by her argument that one cannot simply pull a string and unravel the history of this construct the patriarchy as a singular entity does not exist and it is, in fact, a tapestry comprised of many threads, the journey to reach this conclusion was a harder read than her previous books.

I found some chapters hard to follow and incredibly academic, though the content was always fascinating. I also felt that it was a little repetitive at points, like Saini herself had almost lost the gist of what she was getting at.

Still a 4 out of 5 for me though! I think some parts of this book felt repetitive because patriarchy is itself cyclical. I highlighted this paragraph and will leave you with that:

“What we call patriarchy can be thought of as a set of factors in an ongoing conflict. It’s about people looking to assert dominance over others through their own appeals to nature, history, tradition, and the divine. Their claims are invented, adjusted, embellished, and reinvented all the time, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing.”

Impressive chronicle of male dominance through the ages and how it all could have been so very different. Saini is a thoughtful and erudite writer who I happily will read anything by, always an education!

I was really looking forward to reading this but it was so difficult to read. Too many source references which may have been better in note form. Far too much conjecture

Patriarchs, matriarchs, colonialists, class politics

Angela Saini’s cool analysis of when and how patriarchy may have originated is a thoughtful and fascinating journey , busting several sacred cow thinkings along the way, some of which may annoy feminists as well as those who think this is the way things have always been, is ‘natural’ or even heaven help us, evidence of higher and more developed ways than the ‘pre-history’ matrilineal societies

Saini points out that even now, when imperialism and colonialism moved in like a juggernaut and attempted to crush other ways of being, pockets of cultures exist where women are more equal.

She also takes careful aim at the view that matriarchal societies – and therefore women – were and are more naturally peaceful and gentle. Such an automatic view in some ways shows evidence of patriarchal thinking, confining women to only nurturing roles.

I was also intrigued by the different positions of women during the ‘50s, at the time of the Cold War. America had returned women to the home, seducing the little woman with consumerism and all mod cons. By contrast, in Soviet Russia and the satellite states, childcare was part of the State system, like education itself, and, whatever else was wrong with the authoritarian route taken (and a lot was) actually the initial aims sought equality in the workplace and in education and opportunity for women too

My major takeaway from this fascinating book is that there is not just one kind of patrilineal or patriarchal system, nor was there ever, nor was there one kind of matrilineal or matriarchal system.

But certainly those of us who have been born and brought up in patriarchal systems have internalised this, in our view of who we are or should be.

She is also most interesting and pertinent about how Western feminism has not always looked at how colonial attitudes have infected us, not to mention class attitudes.

Loved this book. It took me a while to get into it, but it was so detailed and so interesting.
I'll definitely be reading up on someone of the other books mentioned.

Highly recommend this!

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up.

This has been a hard review to write. While overall I found the book interesting and informative, at times i found it frustrating and a chore to get though. I didn't connect well with the writing style which was somewhat academic and I just didn't find it that readable for a general audience. However, the topic was fascinating and kept pulling me back in. However, when I finished the book I came away feeling some what dissatisfied and misled as in my opinion I don't think the question proposed was addressed or answered at all. However, I did learn a lot about many different Matriarchal societies past and present, and the many ways they differ from Patriarchal ones and for that I don't regret the time I spent reading this book.

I have loved all of Angela Saini’s books and have learned a lot by reading each one. She chooses interesting topics, fully researches them and then conveys the information in an immensely readable way. The Patriarchs was no exception. I found her links between patriarchal and matriarchal societies and how they have developed and changed really fascinating. I might question some of her conclusions, but I believe that is what a truly interesting and intelligent book should inspire readers to do.
I heartily recommend The Patriarchs as well as all of Saini’s previous books.

Extremely thorough & interesting; touches on concepts that I hadn’t even thought to consider previously and definitely opened my mind. The reason for the 3 stars is I found myself struggling to pick it up after roughly the half way point. An incredibly interesting topic and still worth the read- this book will definitely stay with me.

The Patriarchs is an interesting anthropological study of gender and male domination.

Starting with the origins of the patriachy, Saini then opens the book up to look at what exactly makes a patriarchy in the first place, how they are perpetuated and what alternatives are out there. Covering over 4,000 years of global history, I found this a fascinating examination of the scientific and historical context behind modern culture. Saini raises all the right questions, and while they are not always answered, it makes for a compelling, thought-provoking read.

A very enlightening and engaging book which is easy to read and follow whilst giving lots of useful information
This sets out why a patriarchal society has become the norm the world over by delving into the history of societies in the past where often a matriarchal society was the way. The author has made this so interesting with lots to learn from in history
I thoroughly enjoyed every chapter and was never bored

So readable an educational at the same time. I truly ate this up it was fantastic and the cover is stunning!! Obsessed.

An exploration of how the patriarchy developed and maintained it's place as a social structure and cultural tradition, with an interesting inclusion of those societies that do not follow the trend. A developed and intelligent book that does not leave behind any particular groups of women.

I just couldn’t get into this. It felt too like a university required reading rather than an interesting non-fiction book so I stopped reading about 40% through. Sorry this just wasn’t for me!

I knew the subject matter would interest me, but the book was far too similar to a textbook and an educational piece rather than an informal non fiction read. Too heavy for me.

This was so much more excellent than I had expected it to be.
I thought I was getting a history of patriarchy, a 'how did we get here' of sorts. I got that, but so much more. I've been reading about feminism for a while now, but this book honestly gave me such a better idea of how patriarchy works. It's nuanced, it's well-researched, it has a broad scope without losing attention to detail. Really impressed with this one.

It's a good non fiction book that talks about an interesting topic. There's a lot of facts, figures and myth debunking.
I found it interesting but also a bit boring and text-book like at times.
I learned something new, didn't always agree with the author and appreciated this work.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

A book interested in how the patriarchy came to exist, exploring recent discourse (and debunking a few myths along the way) but mostly looking way back in global history to examine matrilineal and matriarchal societies to understand why modern society has moved away from this structure. At times fascinating, at times a bit too textbook/academic for my own personal taste, but overall an informative and well-researched book.

This is, inevitably, a more amorphous and loose investigation than that of race science in Saini's 'Superior': in that book she was tracing a history of thinking and theorisations, here her topic is far wider in range and scope and that's reflected in the different focuses of the chapters.

The early ones take an archaeological and anthropological view of history and, somewhat like Superior, trace a history of thinking about patriarchy which roughly coalesces around the nature/nurture or biological/cultural binaries. Some pointers towards matrilineal and matrilocal societies (not, strictly, matriarchal) unsettle the contested ideas of patriarchy as biological fate and the somewhat fantasised idea of matriarchal societies with some recourse to evidence in primates.

Far more interesting, for me, are the last two chapters where Saini explores revolutionary attempts to reset the parameters that govern gender inequality and oppression, and the inevitable(?) backlash. Without valorising the communist revolution in the USSR and Eastern Europe or excusing the associated authoritarianism and horrific mass murder, Saini does uncover how this vast social experiment revolutionised women's roles as it made a genuine attempt to smash the patriarchy.

'One of the primary tasks of the Soviet Republic is to abolish all restrictions on women's rights', Lenin announced, and set about doing precisely this. In 1920 (1920!) Soviet Russia legalised abortion. As universal education was promoted across Eastern Europe, women trained to become scientists and engineers supported by access to creches and childcare provided by the state. Cheap and affordable public laundries and canteens relieved women of at least some domestic labour so that they could study and advance their careers. In the late 1920s, the Soviet state adopted laws making it a capital crime to murder or attempt to murder a woman striving for emancipation - 100 years later, in our own age when there is so much activism against femicide, this was radical indeed.

Even after the reunification of Germany, the long-term effects of these socialist policies could be measured: in 2016, the gender pay gap in what was East Germany was 6%; in the old West Germany it was 23%.

A 2019 study measured the proportion of scientific and technical articles published in scholarly journals by female authors: Central and Eastern European universities were amongst the best in the world with Poland coming first and fourth (Lublin, Gdansk), and the University of Belgrade third. By comparison, Harvard came 286th and Cambridge 537th.

This is not to advocate in any way for the kind of authoritarianism, suppression of freedoms and mass incarcerations and executions that have so polluted the communist experiment but it is evidence for the way that state policies and institutionalised social and domestic care can dismantle some of the economic and cultural oppressions of patriarchy. In contrast, since the collapse of state socialism, women have reported a deterioration in their standards of living, driven by the systematic closure of kindergartens, schools and hospitals, placing the burden of child and elderly care back women.

The point that Saini is making here is that biological patriarchy where men are 'naturally' the owners of power, social, economic and intellectual influence due to those X chromosomes is shown not to stack up. If that were true, why has there been so much agitation against patriarchy throughout history? It's culture whether in the myths we construct for ourselves or the economic systems and policies we vote for (in places where women have the status and ability to vote, natch) that can dismantle the oppressions of gendered inequality.

The final dispiriting chapter, though, looks at the pushbacks and backlashes against hard-earned equality progress: Putin's reinstatement of macho patriarchy and force; the return of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the rolling back of abortion laws in the US. Saini ends on a more hopeful note than I think I would.