--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The patriarchal family was only the most…" description: "\"“The patriarchal family was only the most recent in a string of 'primary' social organizations, all of which defined woman as a different species due t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/shulamith-firestone-12980_family_the-patriarchal-family-was-only-the-most_3203852.jpg" --- # The patriarchal family was only the most recent in a… ![“The patriarchal family was only the most recent in a string of 'primary' social organizations, all of which defined woman as a different species due to her unique childbearing capacity. The term family was first used by the Romans to denote a social unit the head of which ruled over wife…” quote by Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/shulamith-firestone-12980_family_the-patriarchal-family-was-only-the-most_3203852.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/shulamith-firestone-12980_family_the-patriarchal-family-was-only-the-most_3203852.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b5/shulamith-firestone-12980_family_the-patriarchal-family-was-only-the-most_3203852.jpg) > ““The patriarchal family was only the most recent in a string of 'primary' social organizations, all of which defined woman as a different species due to her unique childbearing capacity. The term family was first used by the Romans to denote a social unit the head of which ruled over wife, children, and slaves - under Roman law he was invested with the rights of life and death over them all; famulus means domestic slave, and familia is the total number of slaves belonging to one man.”” [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The patriarchal family is just the latest form of social organization that defines women primarily by their reproductive role, a pattern dating back to Roman legal structures. **In simple terms:** Women have been historically defined by childbearing, from Roman times to modern patriarchy. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge gendered definitions rooted in biology. Themes gender patriarchy history biology law Mood critical reflective Type analytical feminist When to use this quote - feminist theory - gender studies - historical analysis - legal reform - social activism Key Concepts social organization reproductive labor legal authority Questions to Reflect On - How do modern institutions still reflect these ancient definitions? - What alternatives to reproductive-based identity exist? A Different Perspective Historical definitions may overlook cultural variations and individual agency. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Life and death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-and-death/) ## Related quotes > [Women with education, skills, and independent sources of income are more able to withstand the pressures of the patriarchal family and more able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deeyah-khan/women-with-education-skills-and-independent-sources-of-income-are/) [Deeyah Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deeyah-khan/) > [the patriarchal family, with its division of functions between a providing and protective father and a home-making, submissive mother, however satisfactory it may have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alva-myrdal/the-patriarchal-family-with-its-division-of-functions-between-a/) [Alva Myrdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alva-myrdal/) > [I grew up in a very patriarchal family. And I believe that I like being a woman. I act behaving like a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-dash/i-grew-up-in-a-very-patriarchal-family-and-i-believe-that-i-like/) [Stacey Dash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-dash/) > [“Our very word ‘family’ shares a root with the Latin famulus, meaning ‘house slave’, via familia which originally referred to everyone under the domestic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber-david-wengrow/our-very-word-family-shares-a-root-with-the-latin-famulus-meaning/) David Graeber, David Wengrow > [“In a culture which holds the two-parent patriarchal family in higher esteem than any other arrangement, all children feel emotionally insecure when their family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/in-a-culture-which-holds-the-two-parent-patriarchal-family-in-higher/) [bell hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [I was not supposed to be in any way a liberated person. 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We used to soak corn cobs in water so they wouldnt fly so far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-waner/our-sister-alma-was-the-best-hitter-in-the-family-we-used-to-soak/) Lloyd Waner > [I come from a huge family. I am used to taking orders and being told what to do and not having an opinion, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-newton/i-come-from-a-huge-family-i-am-used-to-taking-orders-and-being-told/) [Frances Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-newton/) ## More by Shulamith Firestone > [ \[U\]nless oppressed groups stick together, and on alliances of self interest rather than do-goodism; nothing can be accomplished in the long run to dismantle… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/u-nless-oppressed-groups-stick-together-and-on-alliances-of-self/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [the myth of childhood happiness flourishes so wildly not because it satisfies the needs of children but because it satisfies the needs of adults.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/the-myth-of-childhood-happiness-flourishes-so-wildly-not-because-it/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [Emancipated' women found out that the honesty, generosity, and camaraderie of men was a lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/emancipated-women-found-out-that-the-honesty-generosity-and/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [“...childbirth is at best necessary and tolerable. 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But unless women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/we-should-keep-in-mind-that-revolutions-anywhere-are-always-glad-to/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [“For the real issue under all the fights about other women is the man is unable to commit himself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/for-the-real-issue-under-all-the-fights-about-other-women-is-the-man/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [Men are thinking, writing, and creating, because women were pouring their energy into those men; women are not creating culture because they are occupied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/men-are-thinking-writing-and-creating-because-women-were-pouring/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [A fair and generous woman is (at best) respected, but seldom loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/a-fair-and-generous-woman-is-at-best-respected-but-seldom-loved/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [The personal is political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/the-personal-is-political/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [All men are selfish, brutal and inconsiderate--and I wish I could find one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/all-men-are-selfish-brutal-and-inconsiderate-and-i-wish-i-could-find/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [“Believe me, if all wives whose husbands had affairs left them, we would only have divorced women in this country.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/believe-me-if-all-wives-whose-husbands-had-affairs-left-them-we-would/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [Women were the slave class that maintained the species in order to free the other half for the business of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/women-were-the-slave-class-that-maintained-the-species-in-order-to/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [But in psychoanalysis there are no unimportant thoughts; there are only thoughts that pretend to be unimportant in order to not be told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/but-in-psychoanalysis-there-are-no-unimportant-thoughts-there-are/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) > [Just as the end goal of socialist revolution was not only the elimination of the economic class privilege but of the economic class distinction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shulamith-firestone/just-as-the-end-goal-of-socialist-revolution-was-not-only-the/) [Shulamith Firestone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) [Explore all 49 Shulamith Firestone quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shulamith-firestone/) ## More Family quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. 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He slipped his hand around hers. "Friends," he repeated roughly. Her smile was bright enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-smith/she-knew-how-to-play-him-so-very-well-he-slipped-his-hand-around-hers/) [Kathryn Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-smith/) > [As a family, we all loved the Flyers. To me, rooting for the Flyers were how I bonded with my dad especially.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-f-goldberg/as-a-family-we-all-loved-the-flyers-to-me-rooting-for-the-flyers-were/) [Adam F. Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-f-goldberg/) > [The people have always been family to me here in Las Vegas. 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