Patriarchy In Harpo's Summary

Harpo’s open expression of love for his wife and family is perceived as him losing his firm grip that a man is supposed to have over his wife and children. “But now Sofia coming, he always busy. He chop, he hammer, he plow.” (Walker, 33) According to Albert, a man isn’t supposed to love his wife, but instead keep her firmly under his thumb and asserts, “Wives is like children. You have to let ’em know who got the upper hand.” (Walker, 35) It was socially demanded of Harpo to function in a manner similar to his father, failing which he became the subject of ridicule. The “macho- code” was forced down his throat when Albert asks him to beat Sofia to reinstate his power in the family and “…. make Sofia mind.”(Walker, 35) This depicts how patriarchy

They are expected to be pretty and dainty, not be loud, be submissive, earn less than their male counterparts and always be the ‘damsels in distress.’ They must take care of their physical appearance by monitoring everything they eat and subject themselves to countless beauty treatments in pursuit of a body that wins them public sanction. Similarly, men are expected to be financially stable before marriage, be aggressive and not emotional and they must always be leaders. They are discouraged from cooking, sewing and other household chores. They are expected to be strong, athletic and tall. These stereotypes are so perpetually rooted in our day to day thinking that they have become norms. Hence, both men and women practice self- restraint and curb their true passions and desires. Both men and women have thus become inmates of Bentham’s (indent) Panopticon prison model10. They are, in Sandra Lee Bartky’s11 words, “… a self- policing subject, a self committed to a relentless self- surveillance. This self-surveillance is a form of obedience to patriarchy.” (Bartky, 42)(indent) The “docile bodies”12(indt) produced by such disciplinary practices that both men and women must follow, enter “…a machinery of power that explores [them], breaks [them] down and rearranges [them].” (Foucault,

They see other men as competitors and therefore, they do not make themselves vulnerable by opening up for the kind of support that could help produce a different kind of masculinity. Seidler argues:

“We need to explore how the enlightenment has left us with a vision of self-control as a form of domination over our emotions, feelings and desires.” (Seidler, 44)

“The historical reproduction of control as domination has worked to remove men from an ongoing contact with our emotional and somatic lives……Often it is the fear of losing control that accounts for the instrumental character of men’s actions…” (Seidler, 44)

Seidler’s argument rests on the premise that men need to counteract this rational xxxx by taking more responsibility for themselves and become more aware of the quality of their experiences. By doing so, they can gain insights into their social relationships and learn to appreciate themselves aside from their possessions and accomplishments, thereby generating alternative notions of masculinity.

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