On 13 September, a young woman named Mahsa Amini was walking with her brother in the Iranian capital Tehran when she was arrested by the notorious "morality police".¹ Her alleged crime: wearing her hijabA head covering worn by some Muslim women. in the wrong way.

Her brother was told she would be back in an hour. Instead, she died in hospital two days later. Police claim she suffered a heart attack, but she was seriously injured and covered in bruises.

Protests have broken out throughout the country, with women tearing off their own headscarves in defiance of the law.²

In the last year, the government has stepped up enforcement of rules about what women can and cannot wear. Mahsa Amini is the latest victim of this culture war.

Iran is not the only country going backwards on women's rights. In neighbouring AfghanistanA mountainous Asian country, slightly larger than France, whose neighbours include Pakistan, Iran and China., the TalibanA violent fundamentalist Islamic movement that enforces sharia law and denies education to women. has banned women from holding government positions. In the USA, the right to an abortion has been withdrawn.

It can seem as if the patriarchy will never loosen its grip. That is why some are wondering if the oppression of women will ever end.

Experts believe patriarchyA system of society where men hold power and women are excluded. emerged early in humanity's history. In ancient hunter-gathererSomeone who lives by hunting wild animals and collecting wild plants. societies, they argue, men and women were largely equal. They carried out the same roles in society and shared resources between them. That meant women were free to choose their partners.

This all changed with the invention of agricultureThe practice of farming and growing food from the land. . Instead of wandering from place to place, human beings now spent most of their time caring for a particular plot of land.

But staying in one place all the time made them vulnerable to attack. Other people could come and steal their supplies. Their food and tools had to be guarded constantly.

This is where men's physical strength gave them the edge. Because they were better fighters, they were more successful at defending their supplies.

This allowed them to hoard resources for themselves. And it put pressure on women to choose strong partners, so evolution favoured stronger men.

Nonetheless, there is some hope. In the modern world, physical strength is not an advantage. It is much easier for women to be independent. 

They will select partners who believe in equality. And then evolution will favour this kind of man, finally bringing down patriarchy.

Yes: There was nothing inevitable about the oppression of women. It came about because of human activities. Now things have changed, we can evolve back towards equality.

No: Evolution takes place gradually over very long time periods. It has also slowed down in human beings, because we have found ways of evolving ourselves. We cannot expect evolution to act quickly enough.

Or... Patriarchy came about from the complex interplay of biological and social factors. If we want to achieve lasting equality, we will have to root it in both our biology and a just social order.