The patriarchal family arose from economic changes favoring property inheritance.

Evidence

Once woman is dethroned by the advent of private property, her fate is linked to it for centuries: in large part, her history is intertwined with the history of inheritance. The fundamental importance of this institution becomes clear if we keep in mind that the owner alienated his existence in property; it was more important to him than life itself; it goes beyond the strict limits of a mortal lifetime, it lives on after the body is gone, an earthly and tangible incarnation of the immortal soul; but this continued survival can occur only if property remains in the owner’s hands: it can remain his after death only if it belongs to individuals who are extensions of himself and recognized, who are his own. Cultivating paternal lands and worshipping the father’s spirit are one and the same obligation for the heir: to ensure the survival of ancestors on earth and in the underworld. Man will not, therefore, agree to share his property or his children with woman. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 182 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

This prestige is explained essentially by the new importance that children assume in a civilization based on working the land; by settling a territory, men begin to appropriate it. Property appears in a collective form; it demands posterity from its owners; motherhood becomes a sacred function. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 161 (#expands, via linked claim)

Some have argued that gender stratification is reduced by neoliberalism, insofar as it involves a shift from an economy based on private property economy to an economy based on human capital. Elizabeth Mayes, for example, thinks the decreasing importance of private property is positive for women, for Engels-like reasons: if women’s subordination has been linked historically to their status as private property, women are now freed to be individuals rather than property. — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 558 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The institution of inheritance causally produced woman’s subordination to man’s property — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 182; A shift from property-based to human-capital economy could diminish gender stratification. — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s…, 558; Sedentary agriculture gives motherhood sacred status because property demands heirs — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 161 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• The institution of inheritance causally produced woman’s subordination to man’s property #corroborates (0.95) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 182
• Sedentary agriculture gives motherhood sacred status because property demands heirs #expands (0.90) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 161
• A shift from property-based to human-capital economy could diminish gender stratification. #expands (0.85) — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 558
• In feudalism woman functioned as property transmitting land to men #exemplifies (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 207