No, Nirmala Sitharaman, patriarchy isn’t a ‘leftist jargon’; it’s the system we live in

At Jain University in Bengaluru, when a student spoke about pressures from the family and social barriers for women, Sitharaman volleyed back with the kind of faux bravado we have all come to detest (some of us silently so). “What’s patriarchy ya?” she asked, negating centuries of gendered power imbalance. Forget decades of scholarly research and women fighting for basic rights. If only we’d realised that articulate argumentation could banish patriarchal norms to the dustbin of history! Are you facing workplace harassment? Well, you just weren’t logical enough. Can’t find opportunities because you’re a woman? Sorry, there must be an issue with your résumé or your vocabulary.

A rhetorical sleight of tongue

According to Sitharaman, patriarchy is nothing but a “Leftist jargon.” The implication here is not just that patriarchy is exaggerated, but that its very existence is suspect. So, let’s clear that up. Patriarchy is not some buzzword from a radical college pamphlet. It’s the ingrained system that governs almost everything in societies, institutions, and the way we live our lives. From the moment we are born, we are assigned roles based on gender. Whether it’s the glass ceiling at work, the family structure or the social expectations of how a woman should behave, patriarchy is all around us. You don’t need to read Marxist theory to recognise it; you just need to be paying attention.

And then, of course, there are the examples she provided to justify her stance: Indira Gandhi, Aruna Asaf Ali, and Sarojini Naidu. By invoking these women, she seems to be suggesting that their individual achievements mean the oppression many women face on a daily basis doesn’t quite exist. The argument is so simplistic that one almost wonders if she believes that a woman in a position of power automatically means the system is working.

Also read: Patriarchy did not stop Indira Gandhi from becoming PM: Nirmala Sitharaman

Let’s start with Indira Gandhi. Yes, she was the first female Prime Minister of India. But does that mean patriarchy is dead and buried? Hardly. Gandhi, for all her political acumen, was frequently undermined, criticised, and often reduced to her gender rather than her policies. Remember the endless commentary about her saree, her hairstyle, her voice — all things that had nothing to do with her ability to govern, but were discussed ad nauseam because she was a woman. The fact that she held power doesn’t mean patriarchy was conquered; it simply means she was able to do so despite it.

Aruna Asaf Ali and Sarojini Naidu are similarly flawed examples. Yes, they were trailblazers, but their triumphs came at the cost of challenging not only the colonial system but also the very gender roles that sought to keep them in the domestic sphere. They didn’t succeed because patriarchy wasn’t a problem; they succeeded because patriarchy was a problem and they broke through it with sheer willpower, often at great personal cost. The fact that they succeeded doesn’t erase the very real obstacles they had to overcome. It just underscores that exceptional women can do extraordinary things — despite the system.

Sitharaman’s pièce de résistance was the invocation of ISRO’s women scientists. In her telling, if women wearing sarees and managing the occasional clumsy hair flip can send satellites to Mars, patriarchy must be a myth! Again, what a fallacious argument. By this logic, Serena Williams winning Grand Slams should prove that racism no longer exists, and Oprah Winfrey’s wealth should nullify any notion of gender or racial inequality. To cherry-pick women achievers in history and use their accomplishments to gaslight the struggles of millions is, quite frankly, a rhetorical sleight of hand — or tongue — that is tantamount to insulting them.

Today, in the boardrooms, there are many women CEOs. But that doesn’t mean sexism is a figment of our imagination or a thing of the past. Similarly, the fact that ISRO women in sarees are sending rockets to Mars does not mean that there aren’t countless women whose ambitions are crushed by a male-centric society every day. The women at ISRO may be outliers, but they’re hardly the norm. To suggest that their achievements prove we’ve solved gender inequality skirts the larger issue: how many women don’t make it because of barriers that are not just professional but personal, cultural, and social?

The true face of patriarchy

Madam Minister should know that patriarchy isn’t some vague academic term. It’s not something that only the “leftists” talk about in their ivory towers. Patriarchy is present in our homes, schools, workplaces, and even our entertainment industries. It’s the reason why women are more likely to be blamed for their own harassment or why they’re expected to apologise for being ambitious. It’s why when a woman speaks out about inequality, she’s often met with scepticism, or worse, dismissed as a victim. It’s why the idea of women being in positions of power is often still met with surprise, rather than acceptance.

Also read: Stree 2: Amar Kaushik’s film dismantles patriarchy with a supernatural twist

Patriarchy is the reason that women in India still struggle to secure basic rights over their own bodies, such as reproductive freedom. It’s why we live in a country where more than 33% of women report experiencing domestic violence, and over 50% of women have been subjected to sexual violence at some point in their lives. It’s why the ratio of women in leadership roles, both in politics and business, remains dismal. Patriarchy, in case Sitharaman hasn’t noticed, is also the reason why women are expected to stay home and raise children, but are simultaneously criticised for “neglecting their families” when they pursue careers. It’s why there are no equal paternity leaves, why men get away with things women can’t, and why women are still paid less than men for doing the same job.

To reduce patriarchy to “leftist jargon”, therefore, is an insult to the women who wake up every day to fight battles both big and small, often without any support or recognition. Sitharaman’s comments betray a lack of understanding of the everyday experiences of women — who, unlike her, don’t have the privilege of sitting at the high table of power, with the luxury of thinking that the fight for gender equality has already been won.

The reality of gender inequality

To be clear, this isn’t an attack on Sitharaman’s personal capabilities. She is, no doubt, a competent politician (though many will contest this too) and an accomplished woman. But her comments betray a fundamental misunderstanding of the systemic inequalities that women face every day. When you’re the Finance Minister of a country, insulated by power, privilege, and position, it’s easy to forget that the structures you navigate were designed with your interests in mind. But for most women, those structures are designed to keep them out.

Also read: Laapataa Ladies review: Kiran Rao peels back the layers off patriarchy

This is why it’s unacceptable when people in positions of power — particularly women — make comments like Sitharaman’s. We can ignore this as a gaffe politicians are prone to making every now and then. But it is statements like this that perpetuate the myth that patriarchy is no longer a problem. This kind of rhetoric invalidates the trials of countless women, many of whom can barely leave their homes safely. Sitharaman’s comments are also problematic because they dismiss the work that still needs to be done. While women like her may have been able to break through the glass ceiling, millions of others are still stuck underneath it, gasping for air. Telling them that patriarchy is not real is a denial of their lived reality.

So, patriarchy isn’t something that can be wished away with a dismissive quip. It’s not something that goes away because a few women succeed in breaking through its barriers. It’s a pervasive system that demands our attention, our action, and our commitment to dismantling it. So, no, Nirmala Sitharaman, patriarchy isn’t “Leftist jargon” but the system we live in. It’s the lens through which society views women, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. And until you understand that, perhaps it’s time to step away from the debate table and listen to the women who’ve been fighting this fight far longer than any politician or finance minister ever will. Because, in the end, perhaps the only thing more dangerous than patriarchy is the kind of privilege that allows someone to dismiss it so easily.