The Remnants Of American Patriarchy

If a rational egalitarian speaks of patriarchal influences that still have a grip on modern American civilization, they most likely, with some possible exceptions, are not referring to the general political or corporate worlds as being bastions of overt misogyny.  Instead, they are probably referring to ideas that are more casually accepted by the average American than the exclusion of women from politics or business.  When complementarians mock the idea that there is still a patriarchal presence in America, they straw man those who point to the fact that patriarchal ideas have generally retreated into the more subtle aspects of the culture.

Yes, women are still barred from preaching in complementarian churches.  Yes, some people might still be openly against female political leaders.  Complementarian Christians are often the ones guilty of these fallacious stances.  Nevertheless, the majority of the current sexism directed towards women in modern America has to do with relatively common, accepted practices that are integrated into the lifestyle of many men and women alike.  Conservative women are taught to defend these practices, which include benevolent sexism.

Gender stereotypes about dating, marriage, and sexuality, are perpetuated even by many people who would deny that they are sexist at all.  For example, men are pressured to be initiators in actions within all three aforementioned categories, and women are expected to be passive.  It is these stereotypes that can convey deeply patriarchal ideas even in a country that is superficially egalitarian (there are many grievous forms of sexism directed at men as well, even ones stemming from patriarchal influences [1]).  The promotion of male centrality and a hierarchy that elevates men over women in certain ways endures because of this.

There are certainly still patriarchal ideas and practices in American culture, but they are often the kind that religious and secular complementarians might not even recognize as patriarchal to begin with.  If such people see women in positions of corporate, social, and political power, they think that there cannot be anything patriarchal left in the broader culture.  They are mistaken, not because women are collectively shunned from positions of authority, but because men and women alike are still held hostage by the remnants of patriarchal concepts.  These remnants still infect enough relationships in and outside of the church for them to be noticeable to the observant.  There are still many lies rooted in American society that egalitarians need to deconstruct.

[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2018/12/how-complementarianism-injures-men.html