Theorising Patriarchy: The Bangladesh Context

In Bangladesh, men dominate, oppress and exploit women through private and public patriarchy. private patriarchy is maintained in the family through the misinterpretation of religion and the non-recognition of unpaid work done by women at home. In the family women are considered as passive dependants and property of their husbands. Women are also excluded from economic and political power through public patriarchy. In the public arena women are only considered as sexual objects and patriarchy is maintained through Sexual harassment. Capital accumulation further strengthens patriarchy in Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, men's attitudes towards women are shaped by advertisements, films, beauty Contests and pornography where women are used as sexual objects to accumulate capital. Increasingly, men have started to use the dowry system for capital accumulation. Thus men in Bangladesh accumulate capital through private and public patriarch),.