There is a lot of misunderstanding when it comes to the word patriarchy. Most people believe patriarchy refers to the men in power, and not the system that instates men as the head of the family, society and ultimately the country. Any criticism against the patriarchy then turns into an attack against all men. I mean it seems fair enough. Since patriarchy seems to work for the benefit of men, why shouldn’t we blame all men? What we must remember, however, is that patriarchy is upheld by the participation of all members of the society, whether it be willing, coerced or forced. Pinning the system to only one faction of the society blindsides us from the bigger issue and makes other factions look inconsequential in the running of the system. This would mean that there is nothing any of us (except the men in power) can do to change the system. As we all know, this isn’t quite the case. If it was, women would still not be allowed to vote, and there would’ve been no progress in terms of gender equality.

Similarly, patriarchy isn’t solely the difference in personalities between men and women. While the effects of patriarchy can be seen on a personal level, it isn’t an individual entity. When we fail to look at it as the system it is, we are unable to solve the problems patriarchy causes on an institutional level. Like Allan Johnson says in Patriarchy, The System, “If we see patriarchy as nothing more than men’s and women’s individual personalities, motivations, and behavior, then it won’t occur to us to ask about larger contexts—such as institutions like the family, religion, and the economy—and how people’s lives are shaped in relation to them.” As such, we may explain why a specific crime was committed by a specific man. However, we will not be able to address why men are the perpetrators of most violent crime. This is where the levels of oppression (namely, personal, interpersonal, institutional and cultural/structural) come to play.

On a personal level, a man may physically abuse women because he considers women to be weaker and insignificant than men. This can then be seen on an interpersonal level by his interactions (language, actions and behaviors). He may be used to referring to women as “b*tches”, or other dehumanizing terms, in conversations. These behaviors may then be encouraged on an institutional level. Laws that restrict women’s bodily autonomy, policies that imply that men have more value than women in the workforce can further perpetuate the idea that women are inferior to men. These sexist notions may be further imposed on a cultural/structural level. Subscribing to religious/ cultural beliefs that measures a woman’s worth by how submissive and docile they are , or being raised in a society that rewards “toughness” and brutality in men can help validate abuse against women. In this way, we can see how patriarchy works on different levels and how these levels influence each other. Patriarchy is not an individual entity, it is a system that exists beyond the personal. That being said, just like how patriarchy can shape the way we interact in the society, the way we interact in the society can, in turn, sustain or challenge patriarchy.

The patriarchy is a system that affects everyone. It’s a system that both men and women participate in without even realizing it. It is also normality that is taught to our current and future generations. This can be because of culture or environments in general. Before reading the provided text Allan Johnson, “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them or an Us” I always believed that the Patriarchy was something that everyone pushes forward some type of way without realizing. I also always blamed men mostly for the patriarchy I know we shouldn’t only be blaming one group but a lot of the things I believe connect back to men in some type of way. Society is primarily built of ideals that benefit men in a way or was shaped because of a mans opinion. (IMO) For example even though there are a lot of women who push forward misogynistic ideals they all come from the environment they are in and how they were raised. Some of these environments have fathers who practice those ideals even if the argument was used of ” but their father isn’t in their life and it was their mother ” then let’s look back a generation or two and would point back to a father. I do believe that this conversation should be pushed forward because it would help everyone know where their places are in the conversation. After reading the text the patriarchy is a institutional oppression because it affects everyone. Allan Johnson does a great job of explaining how instead of continuing to blame one group specifically or specific individuals we should instead guide the conversation into “why is it like this?” The text as well does a great job of explaining that the patriarchy can be seen even in what many of us would consider small.. for example jokes. Jokes that are deemed dark humor. After reading I realize that I blame men a little less of the patriarchy. Everyone pushes this patriarchy forward everyday. Even though many people were raised a specific day I believe everyone can educate themselves and stop perpetuating it more. Even tho the patriarchy mostly benefits men it can also affect men negatively without them realizing. Things like toxic masculinity can also be seen as something that is praised by the patriarchy without even noticing that it affects them and stops them from educating themselves because it’s the normal environment most men were raised in.

Patriarchy is a socially constructed system in which men have primary power. It affects many aspects of life from political leadership, business management, religious institutions, economic systems and property to the family home where the man is considered the head of the family.It is critical to understand patriarchy as a system rather than an individual, because it is both a person’s and a system’s identity. “Blaming everything on the system’ strikes a chord with many individuals, but it also touches upon a fundamental misunderstanding of social interaction,” writes Allan G. Johnson in “Patriarchy, System.” According to Johnson, patriarchy is frequently blamed on society. The patriarchy is a part of something bigger than we are. If we choose to see patriarchy as Jasmine being condescending to women, we won’t see the system as the way the wires don’t belong to me, according to Johnson. Social media, TV shows, porn, movies, video games, books, magazines, and other media are all mine. Patriarchal culture, according to Johnson, is “how social life is and should be, about what is expected of individuals and how they feel, how they are expected to look and behave.” Being a woman, particularly in today’s society, entails a lot of criticism. We are judged on our ability to achieve the standards that have been set for us, and if we fail to do so, our social value decreases a few points. By simply being, we are subjected to structural and cultural oppression. However, if you are a specific gender or ethnicity, you may not have anything to be concerned about due to privileges you may or may not be aware of. We present ourselves in a certain way, and we present ourselves in a certain way.The way we think, the color of our skin, and other factors all have significant consequences. We enact patriarchy in a variety of ways, even if we aren’t aware of it. All layers of oppression we encounter in our daily lives are our feelings, ideas, practices, and organizations.When I consider how many times I’ve heard “Well, I blame the system,” I understand that by blaming others, we are attempting to make ourselves feel better since, in the end, we are all participants in the system. We have all played a part in the formation of this social structure, both knowingly and unconsciously, but we had no choice because we were born into it. It is crucial to understand patriarchy as a system rather than an individual because I feel that we, as a society, must take responsibility for changing it. We’ve seen how it can change on a regular basis, so why not band together as a system and create a world?

before I read the text by Allan G. Johnson I had this idea that patriarchy was solely blamed on men only. I had my suspicion that some women had misogynistic mentality based on the way they was raised and how it was implemented on them growing up which has a lot of similarity to some of the text by Johnson. so why is it important to view patriarchy as a system and not as an individual identity. its important to view it as a whole and not as a piece of it for many reasons starting with all of has at least once contributed to it , whether we realized it a the moment or not we was once a tiny piece of it just adding into it more. its important to realize this because the patriarchy its a big system that was accustomed into our lives a long Time ago. if we only look to blame one individual as the problem we forget to hold accountable the millions of not only men but women as well for their contribution to this systematic problem.

if we only blame men alone we are enact on it as well. we are letting women believe that only the men are the problem without looking at the bigger picture and we are letting them believe that only men can and are misogynist when in fact some women are part of the problem as well. don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that women are the problem but some are taught from a very young age that acting a certain way is lady like and we should do as we told and some of those women judge other women who don’t do the same misogynist idea that were taught onto them.

as it was mentioned in the reading many things that are happening right now contribute to it. movies and shows and news , pretty much everything around it. its like Allen G. Johnson said ”

The key to understanding any system is to identify its various aspects and how
they are arranged to form a whole.” it’s not just politicians and movies is you and me and everyone who sees a women being yelled at by her husband and we do nothing about it cause we don’t want problems. its also acknowledging that our personal feelings and thoughts also contribute to this system, its when we judge women for getting abortions, or when we judge mother’s who are tired but not the father for helping. if all of us contribute to make a difference in this ideas we can all bring down this system.

I realized it was bigger than us when last year a law was passed that women who are more than 6 weeks cannot legally get an abortion in the state of Texas. that not only older man had a say in this but women as well who believed that women didn’t have the right to do what they pleased with their bodies and other people did.

Audre Lorde’s “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions” and Allan Johnson’s “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us” discuss and stress the importance of recognizing patriarchy as a system and not as an individual. Throughout my life, I have always heard about this “system” and the problems it has caused society. Although I never understood who exactly we were blaming, I had always assumed it was people in political power. The reason I thought this for so long was that I felt that the only group of people that can affect an entire society, or various groups of people, are those in politics. Yet after reading this weeks’ readings I now understand that the system along with the patriarchal culture we have all grown up in was made up by society as a whole, not by specific individuals.

Johnson defines patriarchal culture as “how social life is and what it is supposed to be, about what is expected of people and about how they feel, how they are expected to look and behave”. Being a woman, especially in today’s society, means getting critiqued often. We are measured to meet the standards that have been set forth for us, and if we are unable to meet these requirements, our value in society drops a few points. We face a structural/cultural level of oppression by just being. But then again, if you are a specific gender or race, you may not have anything to worry about anyway due to the privileges you may or may have not known you have. How we present ourselves, how we think, the color of our skin, etc., all have huge implications. Though we may not realize it, we enact patriarchy in many ways. Our feelings, beliefs, practices/organizations we belong to, are all levels of oppression we experience in our everyday lives. In his writing, Johnson also states “The symbols and ideas that make up patriarchal culture are important to understand because they have such powerful effects on the structure of social life. By ‘structure,’ I mean the ways privilege and oppression are organized through social relationships and unequal distributions of power, rewards, opportunities, and resources”.

As I think back to the many times I have heard “Well, I blame the system.”, I now realize that in blaming others, we try to make ourselves feel better since, in the end, the system has been participated in by all of us. We, consciously and unconsciously, have taken part in forming this social system ourselves, yet had no choice in whether or not to participate because we were born into it. It is critical to recognize patriarchy as a system rather than as an individual because I believe that we must take responsibility, as a society, in trying to change it. We have seen that it is capable of periodically changing, so why not come together, as a system, and create a world with better opportunities and equal advantages that work for us and not against us.

 It is important to recognize patriarchy as a system and not an individual person because it is not only a person’s identity but the system. In the text “ patriarchy, system” by Allan G.  Johnson he says, “ blaming everything on ‘the system’ strikes a deep chord in many people but it also touches on a basic misunderstanding of social life.” Johnson explains patriarchy is often blamed on society. Patriarchy is participating in something larger than ourselves. Johnson believes if we choose to see patriarchy as Jasmine patronizing women then we do not see the system of how its wires aren’t mine. My wires are mine I mean social media, TV shows, pornography, movies, video games, books, magazines and more. Seeing violent and superior men against women has become normal to us. In the chapter it states, “ we might ask why a particular man raped, harassed, or be a particular woman. We would not ask, however, what kind of society will promote persistent patterns of such behavior and everyday life.” Making jokes about being a “ Woman beater” or thinking hitting a woman will get a man respect is part of a system controlled society. A lot of the times rape and battery is seen as a sign of anger or a cry for help. This is where patriarchy ships from individual identity to a society perspective. Sometimes society makes excuses for men’s behavior.

There are different levels of patriarchy. Personal patriarchy is believing one is superior to all women. A man who thinks his wife should stay at home and engage in cleaning and cooking duties. While he goes out and “brings Home the bacon”. In other words, the breadwinner of the house. A man who believes that he is head of the household is a personal review of patriarchy. Interpersonalism is similar to individual patriarchy. So that same man who thinks he’s supposed to be the breadwinner of his family also practices his beliefs. He repeatedly tells his wife she is not allowed to work or make her own money. He expects a hot meal each day after a hard day of work. This man does not clean or help maintain anything in the house. He simply does nothing and wants everything to be done by his stay at home wife. Although he has a hand in making his children, after  the wife undergoes numerous changes to her body. She is responsible for taking care of their well-being and making sure they’re fed and clothed. Institutional patriarchy would be a government filled with men making decisions on what a woman’s place in society should be. Certain jobs they prevent women from doing for instance construction worker, plumber, electrician, pilot, etc. Taking away women’s rights to get an abortion is all part of institutional patriarchy. Creating rules against women to bring them down. Cultural/structural patriarchy to me does not qualify as part of patriarchy. For this reason being culture is something that is “ true” or “right”. Nothing about patriarchy is right in my opinion.