I can't help but wonder sometimes if the concept of patriarchy in its traditional understanding still holds today. Yes, most of the world leaders are still men (although there is still the question of who votes for them, is it only men?) and yes, women still make 76 cents to a man's dollar in the most powerful country in the world. Women still amount to less than 10% of military forces worldwide and less than that in Engineering. But if we look around us, and I mean really look closely, who is oppressing women these days? Who is telling us what to wear and what not to wear? Who is raising us to be good housewives? Who is judging our (in)ability to be super-human by juggling (and perfecting) two or three jobs at once - career, housework, and childcare - if not more than that? Who is constantly pointing out our excess fat and cellulite? Who is labeling us spinsters, bitches, and monsters-in-law? Men are not the ones going around cutting girls' genitalia (for whatever reason) in Africa; they are mostly grandmothers and midwives, and sometimes moms help out by pinning the girls down so they can't move! And are scantily-clad and nude models all being forced to pose for those photo shoots? What about women who ask for female servants/maids/modern slaves from poor parts of the world, totally oblivious to their possibly horrible fate and the ugly big picture of women enslav
ing women?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending men or blaming women. I am trying to analytically critique the concept of patriarchy the way it is practiced today. It might have been true that in the past, far or near, men had a strong hold over women and women had no say. How could they when they had no right to vote, own property, get education, or even express their opinions? Nowadays, women almost all over the world have these rights and much more, yet a few choose to have affairs with married men who promise nothing but love and lies.
What's wrong with the picture? Has patriarchy been internalized as a culture and way of life that we can no longer point fingers at men, yet we're still several steps below them struggling with a shiny, glamorous glass ceiling? Have they succeeded at petting us against each other using the "divide and conquer" rule that now we're too busy to get back on track? I am not asking for a militant women's movement with a separatist strategy to achieve equality. I am just hoping to live to the day when women are aware of their own oppressive ideals, cultures, lifestyles, choices, and dreams and are willing to change them.
ing women?Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending men or blaming women. I am trying to analytically critique the concept of patriarchy the way it is practiced today. It might have been true that in the past, far or near, men had a strong hold over women and women had no say. How could they when they had no right to vote, own property, get education, or even express their opinions? Nowadays, women almost all over the world have these rights and much more, yet a few choose to have affairs with married men who promise nothing but love and lies.
What's wrong with the picture? Has patriarchy been internalized as a culture and way of life that we can no longer point fingers at men, yet we're still several steps below them struggling with a shiny, glamorous glass ceiling? Have they succeeded at petting us against each other using the "divide and conquer" rule that now we're too busy to get back on track? I am not asking for a militant women's movement with a separatist strategy to achieve equality. I am just hoping to live to the day when women are aware of their own oppressive ideals, cultures, lifestyles, choices, and dreams and are willing to change them.
Well said. I think too often we neglect the idea of modern patriarchy and its apparent in the dressing and behavior of modern women. We dress, and behave the way men want us to. Isn't that still patriarchy??
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