Origins of the patriarchy

[Tartarus Sauce]

There is a commonly accepted theory: ownership and property

When we we lived in hunter-gatherer bands, we were far more promiscuous as a species. The mothers would always know who their children were, but the fathers wouldn't. Each reproducing male would look after any child within the group as it if was their own since any one child COULD be their own. This was enormously advantageous since it increased the cooperation of the group and prevented conflicts between males trying to fight for the most control of the scant resources and rather shared it with the whole group.

All of this changed with the introduction of resource surpluses created by agricultural, sedentary lifestyles, which brought the concepts of ownership and property. It all of the sudden became important to know who your children were since they would be the ones inheriting your possessions, securing their future welfare. Since there were no paternity tests back then, the only way for a man to know that a child was theirs was to completely restrict a female's reproductive activities with other males.