THE POSITION OF MEN IN THE PATRIARCHAL SOCIAL SYSTEM: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS THROUGH THE LENS OF INDIAN KNOWLEDGE TRADITIONS

Abstract

Patriarchy is conventionally theorised as a system that privileges men over women, yet contemporary gender scholarship increasingly recognises that patriarchal norms also discipline, burden and sometimes marginalise men. Drawing on feminist theory, Indian knowledge traditions and recent empirical work on masculinities, the paper examines the position of men in the Indian patriarchal social system. It first revisits classic definitions of patriarchy from Lerner and Walby and situates them within S. C. Dube’s framework of plural Indian traditions, emphasising how gender relations are embedded in layered cultural formations. It then analyses classical texts such as the Kamasutra, Dharmashastra literature and Brahmanical law codes to show how ideals of the “perfect man” were constructed around virility, lineage, moral guardianship and control, while some indigenous and tribal traditions may have supported alternative, more cooperative masculine roles, though this requires community-specific evidence. The paper reviews selected survey and interpretive studies, recent work on men’s role strain, stigma, and gendered vulnerability, to argue that patriarchy operates as a dual-edged structure: it confers institutional advantages on men while imposing rigid emotional and behavioural scripts that generate anxiety, isolation, and role strain. A critical synthesis of recent literature reveals key research gaps around men’s subjectivities, life-course embodiment, mental health, and the under-explored interface between masculinities and Indian knowledge systems. The paper concludes that Indian sociology and gender studies must re-conceptualise patriarchy as a relational, historically layered system in which men’s transformation is integral to any project of gender justice.