The author analyses the close relationship between patriarchy and the social contract. Carole Pateman puts forward a thesis that the concept of the contract consciously subordinates women to men. Pateman argues that the theoretical tool, which is the idea of the contract, masks the male genesis of political life. The purpose of this deconstruction is to indicate the source of and reasons for male domination over women, which is associated with revision and criticism of the liberal tradition. The fictitiousness of the contract (of the original source idea) leads Pateman to conclude that it is necessary to re‑evaluate other contracts and the marriage contract in particular.
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