I read a blog post today that I wanted to comment on.
http://www.danielleparadis.com/2014/01/26/but-prove-to-me-that-patriarchy-exists/
"It seems wholly doubtful to deny that individual acts of sexual discrimination exist, and I think most people would agree. Really then to say that patriarchy exists is only to claim that these acts of discrimination are not simply random acts of individual prejudice or individual bad behaviour, but a more generalized social prejudice that favors males as a demographic and/or masculinity as an ideology."
The problem is that the tone and message has been "Man Bad, Woman Good" for a very long time. Since 2nd wave feminism definitley, and possibly for a lot longer than that.
Take the Redstockings Manifesto.
"All men receive economic, sexual, and psychological benefits from male supremacy. All men have oppressed women. "
This kind of rhetoric erases men's oppression and suffering and elevates women's condition to the level of martyr, and only and solely oppressed class. Saying that "Patriarchy hurts men too" is a mischaracterization of the human condition though history. Men AND women particpated in a patriarchal system because it was the most effective system for survival of the species.
"4. Violence: women are more prone to being abused
- 7 sobering facts about violence against women
- Violence against women in Canada
- Amnesty Internationals facts on violence against women"
The disinformation campaign continues. Women and men are equally prone to violence against each other. And there is some evidence that women are more prone to initiate violence against their partners.
But feminism and their Patriarchy Theory has long asserted that domestic violence is an issue of patriarchal dominance, and not a pattern of learned behavior, and poor conflict resolution skills.
This kind of misinformation continues to portray men as the villains, and women as the victims. This does not match up to facts and the lived experiences of men and women, but it's the kind of thing, created by feminist thinkers to keep the threat narrative going.
"5. Paid work: women are likely to be paid less
The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics describes the gap between wages, something that economists have been tracking since 1890. Worth noting that although a pay gap exists between men and women in general, it is dramatically more pronounced among women of color especially migrant workers."
Another debunked assertaion, which I have blogged about before. There is no pay gap. Women are paid the same amount as men. Women EARN less because of their choices, not because of some patriarchal system that undervalues the work of women. If anything, perhaps men should consider if working themselves into an early grave is worth the tradeoffs.
So yes, patriarchal systems did exist, and feminists like Gloria Steinem cast those patriarchal systems as "The bad guy" in order to gain political clout via sympathy from the public. The victim narrative is strong, and when it's used to portray women as victims, logic and facts get thrown out the window.
"It is worth noting that many people prefer to use kyriachy to describe interlocking systems of oppression because patriarchy alone does not cover the entire scope of oppression. Patriarchy sometimes misses queer, class, and racial oppressions. Patricia Hill Collins in Black Feminist Thought in the Matrix of Domination moves us closer to an inclusive definition of understanding oppression,"
The retreat of the argument from Patriarchy to Kyriarchy kinda sorta aknowledges that patriarchy theory does not describe human history very well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_B%C3%A1thory
Women have held power, and used it just as oppressivley and for great evil as men have. Oppression is oppression, it is done by both men and women, and gender roles are not a source of oppression, but a factor in how that oppression plays out.
Patriarchy doesn't hurt men too. Feminism hurts men by portraying them as the villians of the feminist Patriarchy threat narrative. And until feminists can let go of blaming men, the problems with their ideology will continue to harm men.
I should give a shout out to Justicar, who made a video response to this blog post, where I got the link.
"It is worth noting that many people prefer to use kyriachy to describe interlocking systems of oppression because patriarchy alone does not cover the entire scope of oppression. Patriarchy sometimes misses queer, class, and racial oppressions. Patricia Hill Collins in Black Feminist Thought in the Matrix of Domination moves us closer to an inclusive definition of understanding oppression,"
The retreat of the argument from Patriarchy to Kyriarchy kinda sorta aknowledges that patriarchy theory does not describe human history very well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_B%C3%A1thory
Women have held power, and used it just as oppressivley and for great evil as men have. Oppression is oppression, it is done by both men and women, and gender roles are not a source of oppression, but a factor in how that oppression plays out.
Patriarchy doesn't hurt men too. Feminism hurts men by portraying them as the villians of the feminist Patriarchy threat narrative. And until feminists can let go of blaming men, the problems with their ideology will continue to harm men.
I should give a shout out to Justicar, who made a video response to this blog post, where I got the link.
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