Equity and Justice - The Patriarchy - Part II

  (NOTE: This is Part II  of a four part series:  Links for the prior parts are:  Part I - https://www.georgemarx.org/2023/07/newer-partial-table-of-contents-more.html, 

Part III - https://www.georgemarx.org/2023/07/table-of-contents-07222023.html

Part IV  - https://www.georgemarx.org/2023/07/table-of-contents-07262023.html)

Tubbs said part of her motivation was that while all three men wrote and spoke about their mothers’ influence on their activism, scholars have largely ignored examining the women’s lives and contributions in favor of the men’s fathers’ — an omission that Tubbs sees as a product of patriarchy.—

NBC News, 30 Mar. 2021

What follows is a nuanced story about confidence, stardom, love, the patriarchy, and the pitfalls of fame that even the most experienced artists face.

—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 11 Sep. 2020

Because the patriarchy is set up to suffocate its girls and women, our gills and tails are a given.

—Jeneé Osterheldt, BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2023

In a letter to the editor of the New York Review of Books, where the piece first appeared in 1975, Rich faulted Sontag for neglecting to emphasize the connection between fascism and patriarchy.—

Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post, 25 May 2023

As white women, we’ve been told by the patriarchy to sit and look pretty, to be silent and complicit.—

Margo Price, Rolling Stone, 15 May 2023 

In Raymond & Ray, García’s eulogy for patriarchy is also its sly defense.—

Armond White, National Review, 4 Nov. 2022

With a mix of heart and humor, Hannah Gadsby unravels the trauma behind the jokes, while also rattling the patriarchy with every punchline.—

Deanna Janes, Harper's BAZAAR, 5 June 2023

Some social media content creators embrace this tension our racial history has brought to the conversation about stay-at-home mothers in particular, seemingly without resorting to absolutist statements about gender roles but still hewing close to ideals of Christianity and the patriarchy.—

Nylah Burton, refinery29.com, 21 Dec. 2022

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patriarchy

I live in a Patriarchal world.   Its parameters are alluded to in part in the above quotes.   It goes much deeper, however!

Patriarchy relates to power over others.   It also relates to the power some of us have over ourselves.

1.   Men are the prime pushers of patriarchy.

2.   White men lead the charge.

3.   Super-wealthy and wealthy people are in charge.

It could be understandable if limited to the three key terms above.   It is more complex.   Heterosexuality and Christianity are important.   Also significant is our never-ending drive for world domination.

The patriarchy is often envisioned as men not listening to women.     It is the world (most visibly) of the mega-business leaders.  They control far more than their corporations. Their exclusive club manipulates many areas of our lives.

The patriarchy can be understood by how:

1.   Its leaders push their power over others.  It is wildly disproportionate to their numbers,

2.   Its opponents resist this power (generally)  ineffectively,

3.   The passive support of the largest plurality, if not majority of the non-leaders,

4.   Its true victims, who are deeply hurt by this (effective) dominant control.

It is not male domination per se.  A few women are (also) on top.  Though it is mostly white, BIPOC in small numbers are in the club. 

It often looks like a pecking order – with layers of control on top of each other.   Mostly cis-white men lead.    Those with somewhat less power are mostly passive “enforcers”.  Others lack the power most of the time.   Some are deluded into thinking that either they are powerful, or will become powerful if they support those who dominate.

Is The Patriarchy a conspiracy of those with power against those lacking this power?    Answering the question is not a simple yes or no.   To some degree those with power recognize the game and are actively participating in it.

Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are active players.   Warren Buffett may criticize them even on issues of fair taxation on occasion.   He, and his ilk, will never confront the systemic nature of the oppression and of The Patriarchy.   He will never do anything that underneath the rhetoric could either greatly weaken his own power, or isolate himself as a potential target of many Patriarchal Leaders.

I would guess, though, that much of the Conspiracy isn’t real.  There probably isn’t active collaboration at a macro level.  At a micro level it is critically important for the continued power.   Common sense probably is more a factor, rather than any active plan.

Slavery just prior to The Civil War was much, much more than an example of Big Business.

Many white Americans, myself included, have deluded ourselves into thinking our psychological makeup bears little resemblance to the morally corrupt psychological framework of the southern racist slaveholder described in this book.   Most, if not all, white folks have been complicit in pretending Marse is dead.  We whites continue to enjoy the benefits derived simply from having white skin and Black people continue to fear and feel the vestiges of many of the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors deeply ingrained in our white ancestors, whether they were slaveholders or not. (p.233)

http://www.workingtowardsendingracism.org/2023/04/marse-how-racism-is-alive-in-many-of.html

Christianity can be toxic as part of The Patriarchy.  A majority of Christians are not particularly patriarchal.  Sheldon Adelson, a noted billionaire, who was an active part of The Club, was very proud of being Jewish.

Questions remain to be answered here!   I’m far from having proved anything.   Hopefully, some answers will begin appearing beginning in the next part of this writing.