The Absurdity of Patriarchy

The notion of The Patriarchy espoused by feminists has gone from being a radical fringe view to being mainstream not only among feminists but the wider community. The definition of patriarchy used by feminists differs from that used by anthropologists, sociologists and other researchers as well as differing from the common dictionary definition. These two concepts are entirely distinct and should not be confused. Due to the significant differences in meaning that this term has, anyone using it should clearly define the term before making their argument. Feminists often refer to The Patriarchy. This usage distinguishes it from non-feminist usage. Patriarchy, as defined by feminists, does not exist and never did exist, and is indicative of a very simplistic world view. The feminist notion of patriarchy is unfalsifiable.

Much of the criticism levelled at men by feminists is justified by a belief in The Patriarchy. Mainstream feminism posits that men have an intrinsic advantage in society merely for being men. This intrinsic advantage is claimed to be as a result of The Patriarchy. This is a very binary view of the world, presuming that one gender has an intrinsic advantage over the other. It would be more accurate to say that both men and women have problems specific to their gender. Unfortunately feminists have shown a consistent trend of ignorning the problems facing menand boys, and much of this occurs because they believe in The Patriarchy.

If the Men's Rights Movement could tear down belief in The Patriarchy it could make huge inroads in to getting the wider community to accept the issues facing men and boys.

Definitions

Sample Feminist Definition

This is a definition of patriarchy by the London Feminist Network:

Patriarchy is the term used to describe the society in which we live today, characterised by current and historic
unequal power relations between women and men whereby women are systematically disadvantaged and oppressed. This
takes place across almost every sphere of life but is particularly noticeable in women’s under-representation in
key state institutions, in decision-making positions and in employment and industry. Male violence against women
is also a key feature of patriarchy. Women in minority groups face multiple oppressions in this society, as race,
class and sexuality intersect with sexism for example.

This is a fairly typical definition of patriarchy within mainstream feminism.

Dictionary Definition

In contrast, dictionary.com defines patriarchy like this:

pa·tri·arch·y  [pey-tree-ahr-kee]  Show IPA
noun, plural pa·tri·arch·ies.
1. a form of social organization in which the father is the supreme authority in the family, clan, or tribe
   and descent is reckoned in the male line, with the children belonging to the father's clan or tribe.
2. a society, community, or country based on this social organization.

Background

Feminists differ in their understanding of patriarchy. Some believe it has always existed while others believe it appeared a few thousand years ago. Some even believe there was an ancient matriarchy that was defeated by warlike patriarchal societies. There is never-the-less general acceptance among feminists that patriarchy is based on the systematic oppression of women by men and is a constant of gender relations around the world.

Concrete Terms

Anyone believing in patriarchy should try to answer the following questions in concrete terms.

When and where did it start?

If patriarchy existed and exists, it must have started somewhere. Be specific in providing information on where and when this occured.

What written evidence did the purveyors of patriarchy in the past leave behind?

If patriarchy existed in the past those maintaining the system would likely have had a theoretical basis for their activities and they would probably have written this down. Copies should survive.

The requirement here is for written evidence of the systematic and intended oppression of women. Documents (such as the Torah and Christian Bible) that describe ancient cultural practices are not sufficient. This document would need to explicitly talk about the oppression of women, why it is done, how it is achieved, etc. Transmitting a complex system from father to son generation after generation unchanged would be implausible without written reference documents.

Women who lived under patriarchy must have been aware of it. Did they leave any written records explicitely detailing the system used to oppress them?

Did women ever try to rise up and fight it?

Fighting in this context need not mean physical violence. The women of a village (or an entire society), realising their plight, could choose to leave en masse with their children, fleeing their oppressors. Women could also fight the oppression of patriarchy by engaging in passive resistance. This would involve the women of a community (or a society) refusing to participate in their own oppression. They could collectively refuse to participate in any form of work that supported the society, and therefore their own oppression.

If this ever occurred it would likely have been a significant event and would be in the written record of that society or a neighbouring society.

It is worth noting that the MGTOW movement explicitly talks about men passively and lawfully resisting contributing to a state system that is hostile to them. If patriarchy existed, parallel attitudes should have existed among women.

If so, what was the result?

Did any of these women succeed in shaking off patriarchy? For those that did not succeed, what was the punishment? How many women where tortured, killed or exiled by the men of their society for the failed uprising? How many women were punished in other ways? When uprisings are suppressed it is common for the ruling class to publicise the unsuccessful uprising and the punishments meted out so as to dissuade others. Records detailing an event like this should still exist.

Why did patriarchy even permit female rulers?

Many societies had a minority of female rulers. Claims of patriarchy must explain why a patriarchal system would ever permit any female rulers. Some feminists attempt to explain the rise of women in to leadership roles as a result of intersectionality. The principle problem with this argument is that oppressors do not allow any member of an oppressed group in to the ruling class regardless of any other characteristics they have. Indeed, any members of the oppressed group that might be possible leaders are often eliminated by their oppressors.

Those arguing for patriarchy must also explain why societies around the world allowed women to rule in their own right. Many examples are given here but many more examples exist. Each women below ruled over a powerful state. Some ruled in their own right and some as regents, but they were all autocrats. These women are listed with the region they lived in and dates of birth and death. In some cases the dates of birth and death are approximate.

• Merneith (Middle East, 13th century BCE)
• Hatshepsut (Middle East, 1508-1458 BCE)
• Artemisia I of Caria (West Asia, 5th century BCE)
• Olympias (Europe, 375-316 BCE)
• Cleopatra Thea (Africa, 164-121 BCE)
• Cleopatra VII (Africa, 69-30 BCE)
• Boudica (Europe, 20-60 CE)
• Zenobia (West Asia, 240-275 CE)
• Empress Suiko (East Asia, 554-628 CE)
• Empress Wu Zetian (East Asia, 625-705 CE)
• Irene of Athens (West Asia, 752-803 CE)
• Theophano (West Asia, 943-969 CE)
• Theophano (Europe, 956-991 CE)
• Margaret of Austria (Europe, 1480-1530 CE)
• Catherine of Austria (Europe, 1507-1578)
• Mary I (Europe, 1516-1558 CE)
• Elizabeth I (Europe, 1533-1603 CE)
• Joan of Austria (Europe, 1535-1573 CE)
• Mary Queen of Scots (Europe, 1542-1587 CE)
• Catherine the Great (Europe/Asia, 1729-1796 CE)

Kyriarchy

Some opponents of the men's rights movement have tried to argue that criticism of the feminist notion of patriarchy is pointless since academic feminists now emphasise kyriarchy rather than patriarchy. Even if this is true, which is questionable, academic feminists taught patriarchy to impressionable young women in gender studies classes for 40 years. Even if the academic feminists have moved on, those that they taught for so long have not. Enormous numbers of women and men believe in the feminist notion of patriarchy and the men's rights movement is right to confront it and reveal it as a myth.

The originator of the term, Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza, defines kyriarchy as:

a neologism…derived from the Greek words for “lord” or “master” (kyrios) and “to rule or dominate” (archein) which seeks
to redefine the analytic category of patriarchy in terms of multiplicative intersecting structures of domination… Kyriarchy
is best theorized as a complex pyramidal system of intersecting multiplicative social structures of superordination and
subordination, of ruling and oppression.

As can be seen here, the very definition of the term, uttered by the originator of the term continues to see patriarchy as central to this new term.

In moving from patriarchy to kyirarchy feminists themselves are showing that patriarchy was a flawed and overly simplistic idea. Kyirarchy itself is still overly simplistic by considering the alleged oppression of women by men as central to the concept.

Separatism

If the claims made by feminists about men, including that they have systematically oppressed women throughout history using violence, are true then separatism would be a viable option. If men have really acted this way towards women over thousands of years then it would be reasonable to conclude that this is intrinsic to the nature of men. Women believing this would do well to create a society without men. They could have women fulfil all of the roles in society, even the dangerous and dirty ones.

See Also

• Kyriarchy

External Links

• Feminist Archeologist Accidentally Destroys Feminist Theory of Patriarchy
• Historical female leaders
• Ancient queens
• Female Rulers, Queens, Heads of State
• Ancient women rulers

References

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