Regeneration and patriarchy

I'm currently reading Regeneration by Pat Barker, which has some intriguing things to say about patriarchy and manhood. One particular one comes at a moment in a church. In the stained glass windows there is the scene of Abraham preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac. In the window, Abraham doesn't seem at all bothered by this, while Isaac looks positively eager. Barker calls it

the 'bloody bargain... on which all patriarchal societies are founded. If you, who are young and strong, will obey me, who am old and weak, even to the extent of being prepared to sacrifice your life, then in the course of time you will peacefully inherit, and be able to exact the same obedience from your sons.'

So if patriarchal societies oppress women, they also oppress men. They make fools of us all, since, as my fellow coach Jon Willis likes to quote, 'The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise man grows it under his feet.' (Check out Jon's blog SELF Happiness) And what could be a better example of deferring happiness for the future than consenting to fight the battles of your elders for them, to the death?

This kicks up some interesting questions. What's the alternative? Who, in fact, are the patriarchs? How far have we come in changing this? What remains to be done? What does it say that the author of the book that makes this point is a woman?