Original scientific paper
Patriarchality in Croatian Family: Caring or Domination
Jasenka Kodrnja
; Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The author presents some indicators of patriarchal attitudes based on the resul ts of a research
survey »Social structure and the quality of life in the period of transition« by the Institute
for social research in Zagreb and the Center for the research of transition and civil
society. Data was collected using a survey method on a representative sample of Croatians
who we re of age and live in the village. Patriarchal attitudes were observed on the level of
attitudes and behaviour and is in segme nts: re production, power, the relationshi p of private-
public, pe rforming household duties. The first, theoretical, part of the article is concerned
with the analys is of partriarchal based on texts by the authors of the moderne (Bacon
, Hegel). The author demonstrates that »moderne« is not opposed to pre-moderne patriarchal
attitudes, but that it implicitly o r explicitly affirms it. In those authors, as in some
others (Erl ich, brothers Raclic) we recognize the idealized picture of patriarchal society
where a prominent place is occupied by the value of caring (about the family, about the
state) and the subject is the Big Man (the father of the family, the leader of the people or
god). Almost identical results emerge from the inte rp retation of the empirical research res
ults. The great majority of those surveyed accepts and affirms partriarchal values, and the
influence of various inde pendent variables is most often below the level of statistical significance.
The attitudes that are most often accepted also show that it is a question of an idea lized
picture of patriarchal society where the prominent part occupies the Big father and where
the old values are intertw ined with the new post-moderne value: caring. The a uthors emphasize
two essential features of the patriarchal tradition: resistance to change and tendency
to disguise. According to some authors of postfeminism, these characteristics
emerge from its deep, subconscius and mythical level.
Keywords
patriarchality; modern; postmodern; caring; domination; Big man (father, god)
Hrčak ID:
101745
URI
Publication date:
5.11.2002.
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