Patriarchy is a system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is traced through the male line. According to the readings patriarchy is more than the male privilege. Often people believe that when it comes to patriarchy they believe men dominate women and they are oppressive people. Men have the power and women don’t, that is what is known when the word patriarchy is mentioned. It is more than that, gender doesn’t only play a role. Race, ethnicity and poverty play a big role in patriarchy as well. Someone who is in an upper class are not a big fan of people who live in poverty especially if they’re not white. Like said in the article Patriarchy, the System An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us “The oppression of women happens because men want and like to dominate women and act out hostility toward them. There is poverty and class oppression because people in the upper classes are greedy, heartless, and cruel.” An individual can feel powerless if people make them feel like they quite just do not fit in a group of people. Like how Audre Lorde said in There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions. She didn’t feel like she is not part of any group, like she’s wrong. She is a black woman that is gay and when she is with amongst black people she is the lesbian and when she is amongst the gay community she is the black woman.

One day I was talking with my brother in law and a question came up. How does it feel like working back in the office? Due to Covid 19 he was working at home and he is now back in the office so I asked him how it was going. He mentioned that it was not the best thing, he is the only guy in the office. He is the only man there and he feels a little weird by that, he doesn’t understand why they put him in an office full of women. He asked his supervisor and implied that he is not a straight man therefore they know that there will be no harm in it. He felt offended by it, that is when he told me that he just doesn’t feel like he fits anywhere. In the office he’s the only man, when he is with his husband’s friend he isn’t “gay” enough and when he is with out with his friend’s he is the hispanic one. There is always a label for him. In society without knowing what people do they put labels and those can affect someone.