How is it cherry picking to name a bunch of the laws and norms that illuminate the broader culture? Patriarchy is a social system that harms everyone, and men suffer under it as well, something that I very much care about since I have a son, but pretending like women really haven't had it so bad or that they have actual equality today is just telling yourself a fairy tale.
I don't need to read a book. I write research-based articles on this topic on a regular basis.
"The first sentence of the New Scientist quote is important because it speaks to a central aspect of patriarchy — social stratification. This was the first time that class distinctions or significant hierarchy came into widespread use, and they were maintained by force or the threat of violence. This is an important aspect of patriarchy — a social system that embraces and rewards ruthlessness and a might makes right mentality. This is distinctly different from a time when the wellbeing of the entire clan or settlement was a primary survival strategy.
But with the onset of patriarchy, not only are women controlled by men in a way that they hadn’t been before, but the strong have power over anyone who is less so and a kind of feudal system emerges. A relatively small number of elites ostensibly protect, but also control a larger number of highly stratified classes, with the most powerless and the poorest making up the widest part of the pyramid."
