The roots of male dominance

Angela Saini's book is a thought-provoking exploration of patriarchy, its historical roots, and its impact on society, offering glimpses of resistance and the search for alternatives

The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule

Author: Angela Saini

Publisher: Fourth Estate/ HarperCollins

Pages: 336

Price: Rs 699

A fleeting image in the opening chapter of Angela Saini’s The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule, contains an unusual narrative. An elderly woman sits in the verandah of her home somewhere in Kerala, scrutinising the morning newspaper through thick spectacles. Viewed through the window of a bus by academic Robin Jeffrey, who was travelling across the state in July 1968, this is an image suggestive of female emancipation, literacy, and the right to leisure. It is conveyed to the reader via a conversation between