I didn't say that all men do these sorts of things. First off, patriarchy is a social system and not a synonym for men and secondly, it only arose for the first time about 6k years ago. When it did, the social dynamics changed quite a bit, particularly as relates to female sexuality. How about we have a little history lesson around that so you can chill?
Until the rise of the worship of Yahweh, the primary deity in the region (and much of the world) was The Queen of Heaven, a goddess of love, sex, and war who went by a wide variety of names — Astarte, Ishtar, Innana, Nut, Ashoreth, etc. Her worship sometimes contained sacred sexual practices and despite a very concerted effort to wipe her out (the Bible has 27 verses that speak of this), her worship continued contemporaneously with Yahweh for a long time.
In fact, for a while, artifacts related to her were kept in the Ark of the Covenant with the Ten Commandments and other artifacts. The power of the Queen of Heaven was so deeply entrenched in the region, that for a time, Yahweh may well have needed a kind of sacred marriage with her as a way to gain legitimacy.
In later times when the worship of Yahweh was becoming more prevalent, it was still the noble and the royal who were the least likely to give up the worship of the Queen of Heaven entirely. “According to the Bible, King Soloman, at about 960–922 BC, worshipped Ashtoreth as well as other local deities. He was eventually threatened with the loss of his kingdom for having forsaken Yahweh and revering the Queen of Heaven.” (1) There are 27 verses in the Bible that describe the struggle to wipe out the worship of Asherah and her consort Baal. In 1 Kings 15:13, Maacah was removed from being the queen mother because she made a “horrid image as an asherim” (a devotional depiction of the Goddess.)
For thousands of years these sexual customs had been accepted as natural among the people of the Near and Middle East. Inherent within the very practice of the sexual customs was the lack of concern for the paternity of children — and it is only with a certain knowledge of paternity that a patrilineal system can be maintained.
These ancient sexual customs were denounced as wicked and depraved and it was for this reason that the Levite priests devised the concept of sexual “morality”: premarital virginity for women, marital fidelity for women, in other words total control over the knowledge of paternity.
When God Was A Woman, Merlin Stone, page 160
Dismantling the temple systems of the Queen of Heaven also gave the men who did so the power of their assets and influence. Demonizing sacred sexuality meant that those who supplanted its practitioners could themselves become the center of the community, the keeper of the records, and the place where people turned for help and healing.
Sex went from having the potential to be a holy act, invoking the Divine, to something that was for the pleasure of men and for procreation. It was not just a seismic shift in personal power, but in societal power as well.
This is just one of the many ways that the onset of patriarchy sought to capture and contain vibrant female sexual power. I could write more here, but instead will just link you to another story.
