Interpreting Marianne Weber's Idea of Primitive Patriarchalism Through Imagery (Rakkan A.)

       The image shows a man, presumably a business man due to his coat-and-tie attire, lounging after likely having a long day at work while his wife juggles preparing food for the family and looking after their son. In "Authority and Autonomy in Marriage", Marianne Weber introduces the idea of primitive patriarchalism. This is the ideology that since the beginning of human societies, men owned women as property and had the rights to her and her children. She writes that Christianity has called for the "obedience" of women and their acceptance of maintaining a subordinate position to the man. Weber asserts that this history still evidences itself in husband and wife marital relations in modern societies. She describes marriage as a contract where a woman voluntarily "subordinates" herself to her husband. The image I have provides represents this phenomenon, as it is a snapshot of the stereotypical daily life of a working man with a wife and kids at home. Notice how he is in a relaxed position with his feet out and his newspaper. He is also smoking a cigar. Clearly, he is creating an environment where his spouse is forced to do the chores that she would not dare to impose on her husband. Weber also discusses how a woman is strapped economically when she gets married, as her assets legally transfer into the ownership of her husband. Additionally, women without property or income will be rendered penniless without their marriage. Weber explains that the risk of losing all opportunities for personal satisfaction binds women to the conditions of their marriage. The woman in this image is representative of this idea, as she likely is, for all intents and purposes, forced to comply with her role of servitude, as to leave the marriage would result in her social and economic hardship.