Patriarchal Hierarchies of Power and the Subordination of Women: Real Doll as a Replacement of Woman Figure

Abstract

The social structure of the family has always been in the state of transformation. In the past centuries, the nuclear family was replaced with a Patriarchal Family which lasted for only two centuries from 16th to the beginning of 18th century. In this new structure of the family, men were privileged to play the role of the master and the women were marginalized and subordinated. Recent years, however, has witnessed a re-adjustment of this order towards a more equal distribution of power relations. These changes in family structure has ever since initiated new conflicts leading to establishment of the physical and psychological bonds between men and dolls. The present study aims to find out the major socio-psychological reasons behind this conflict. In a qualitative library based study, the researchers attempt to analyse the video interview of some of the doll-owners. In the survey conducted in this study, the video of “Guys and Dolls”, BBC Video Documentary, has been shown to 10 participants, five male and five female. Then, a questionnaire was distributed to ask for their opinion based on their gender. The findings of this analysis reveal that women can hardly accept the notion of using dolls as replacement to real partners in comparison with men. On the contrary, the male participants advocated the employment of dolls as sexual replacement for the real woman figure.

Keywords: Patriarchy, Real Doll, Oedipus complex, Female Subordination, Family