The Unintended Consequences of Anti-Patriarchy Campaigns: Hierarchies of Competence in the Age of Feminist Mobili

Abstract

The notion of gender hierarchy and the inherent dichotomy of competence versus equality have been rarely dealt with objectivity in the field of social sciences. This paper examines the legitimacy of the feminist theory to question and eventually seek the destruction of what they labeled as the historical patriarchal hierarchy, and the pushback of certain academics in the fields of sociology and psychology namely through the theory of power. The aim of this paper is to explore the historical paradigmatic shifts that affected the concept of gender hierarchy in the West. This paper suggests that there are two historical paradigms, within which, two mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive scenarios for explaining the evolution and causes of western hierarchies in general and those pertaining to gender in particular. It also suggests that these historical paradigms will compete to construe and eventually prescribe policies regarding the structure of gender hierarchies in the West. This paper contends that legitimate concerns of sex-based discrimination might lead to illegitimate demands that might damage existing hierarchies based on competence.