PATRIARCHY

# **Steven Goldberg (1941–2020)**

**Sociologist & Author**

* **Background:**

* American sociologist, professor at City College of New York.
* Specialized in gender, authority, and social structures.

* **Key Works:**

1. **The Inevitability of Patriarchy (1973)**

* Thesis: Male dominance (“patriarchy”) occurs universally in human societies.
* Argument: Rooted partly in biological differences (especially testosterone), not just culture.
* Examines and rejects claims of historical or existing matriarchal societies.

2. **Why Men Rule: A Theory of Male Dominance (1993)**

* Expanded and updated version of his earlier thesis.
* Responds to critics, integrates new anthropological evidence.
* Concludes that true matriarchies have never existed and patriarchy is a consistent outcome of human biology.

* **Legacy:**

* Controversial figure: praised for clarity, criticized for biological determinism.
* His works remain touchstones in debates on gender, biology, and social order.