This year I wanted to start off the discussion with a commonly used and yet also very misunderstood term: Patriarchy. Patriarchy is a term many people use when referring to the power of male domination. This is part of the picture but definitely not the whole picture. In an article, I recently read for my Intro to Women and Gender Studies class, there was a depiction of what Patriarchy is and what it is understood to be. To many people Patriarchy is just a blanket term for ALL men, however this is way, way, way too simple and not accurate. Patriarchy is the system that has been created to be male-dominated, male-identified, and male-centered.
Because of the male-dominatedness of Patriarchy there are many assumptions that exist because of that. It creates assumptions that men are strong and women are weak, that men are aggressive and dominate, while women are compassionate and submissive and that any flipping of this is wrong and unnatural. As you see Patriarchy is much more than male-centered, it is a system and a way in which the world should work and should run. Everybody who exists in the world, as it is now, is a part of the problem as we continue the system, however we are also restrained by the system making it a continuous cycle. That being said because of this cycle we also can choose to change it if we want to.
This is where Feminism comes into the picture:
The above picture describes a very important idea, it is the system that we live in that determines these ideas for men and women. We do not have to live in a society that believes men are “monolithic and unchanging” and “can’t stop themselves from harassing and assaulting.” Feminism expects more out of men and all people who live in this world, so why do so many people ignore this idea that “Feminism holds men are capable of more – are more than that.”
Feminism is so much more than women rising to where men stand. It is working to push men and women to go beyond the confines that patriarchy has set on us for so long. I don’t know about you, but I no longer want to live in a society that blames victims, doesn’t believe women can achieve as much as men, and expects men to be animalistic and unchanging. I would like to live in a world that can surpass these old thoughts and ideals, which is my hope.
This is what I believe feminism, at least now, is attempting to do. To help us rise up against these ideals that have long been impressed on us. Also allow us to look past the gender binary we are constantly confined by. There needs to be equality among all genders, even those that have not previously fit within American society. That is where feminism is going these days and that is the point, that everyone is treated equally and given a fair shot. This is the reason feminism is still relevant and important!
Johnson, Allan G. “Patriarchy, The System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us;” or Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Anthology, 98-105. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009.