“Smash the Patriarchy”
Feminist activists have chanted the phrase “smash the patriarchy” aloud, on signs, and on their bodies for the past 100 years.
Me? I can’t remember when I first heard the term “patriarchy”. In fact, I never used to question how the world worked when I was younger.
Patriarchy is ‘the structural and ideological system that perpetuates the privileging of [hegemonic] masculinit[ies]’
In simple words, patriarchy is a social system that upholds the idea that men are superior to women.
Now patriarchy has no age or gender.
All of us, men and women, have been trained into patriarchy. Not only that, but we all carry it casually from one generation to the next.
If you ask someone about gender equality, sometimes even the most intelligent people have the most unexpected responses. Something like “men and women are not the same.” Or “they can get equity but they are not equal.”
These responses are not only evasive, but also ignorant. And precisely why it is important to draw attention to gender disparity and patriarchy.
But…Are men really responsible for patriarchy?
No. We’ve all grown up hearing men chastised for “behaving like a girl” or “crying like a girl.”
We were all taught as children that “real men” lack emotions and vulnerability, and that men’s tear glands do not function.
The same patriarchy that objectifies women suffocates men by demanding proof of their masculinity. We haven’t seen a woman who fits the “ideal” definition of a woman, nor have we seen a man who is “manly” enough.
Now the fight and feminism is against patriarchy, not men. And Patriarchy is a Belief System, not a Gender. The only way to abrogate it is to fight against it and not against masculinity.
