Description
The goal of this paper is two-fold: first, it questions the distinction made between various manifestations of gendered violence and how they are studied in distinct silos of knowledge (re)production; second, it theorises patriarchy in a way that allows for comparative work between different manifestations of gendered violence. More specifically, this work is concerned with the study of involuntary celibacy and intimate partner violence.
I draw on neo-institutionalism to argue that patriarchy is the result of human interaction that is structured around the interplay between ‘institution’ and ‘ideology’. I use a ‘continuum thinking’ approach in my reading of gendered violence to focus on the connections between manifestations of violence, rather than considering them discrete and isolated acts. Based on this, I argue that exploring gendered violence in terms of its function, i.e. to enforce and (re)produce male domination, allows for more comparative work. Patriarchy then becomes a lens to analyse different manifestation of violence, centred around gender as a defining feature, and according to which the relative positioning of maleness is dominant.
Keywords: gender, violence, patriarchy, oppression, institution, ideology, involuntary celibacy, intimate partner violence, comparative work
