The End of the Story: Patriarchy

Abstract

This essay examines the iterations of patriarchy that seamlessly appear in heteronormative familial structures. Specifically, the paper illuminates the practice of patronymic naming—from surnames to name duplications (juniors) in the overarching framework of patriarchy. Such a framework contributes to the ubiquity and rigidity of naming practices and resists alternate ways of presenting generational offspring. Popular culture reinforces patriarchal normalcy via the ritual of representation. This essay explores the ritualized cementing of generational naming and the reverberations of masculine identity it encloses.