According to Allan G Johnson’s “Patriarchy, the System,” “patriarchy” is “a massive social system or government that supervises and governs the way we as human beings interpret and determine our responsibilities in society (Caruso 239-269).” This judgment is founded on the patriarchal view that men and women are fundamentally distinct, with the male typically considered the dominant gender and the female typically regarded as a weaker, submissive, and domestically oriented extension of the male. Johnson indicates that, while we all play a part in this system, we cannot be held personally responsible for the patriarchy’s social flaws just because we chose the path of least resistance. ” According to Johnson, “the physical or metaphorical conduit provides the least effort to onward motion for a particular object or entity, among a range of potential courses.” As a result, Johnson utilizes this analogy to demonstrate how, in a patriarchal culture, we may assume that submitting to patriarchal perspectives is the easiest route of resistance. Audre Lorde believes that belonging to a certain group of individuals who share some common characteristics different from the rest of the world are viewed as outcasts and more so associated with the black race. Belonging to these groups is accompanied by a negative view from society, thereby being accompanied by neglect and oppression.Male domination over women is emphasized in patriarchy and its society. Everything from symbolism to literature to film to ordinary discourse reflects this supremacy (Fairbairn 135-150). This society promotes men in numerous ways, giving men greater privileges than their female counterparts. When patriarchal ideals are examined closely, men are shown to be the most important. According to the ” biological ” and ” natural ” views, men are the sole providers, the head of the household, the prized bulwark, and the dominant spouse, according to the “biological” and “natural” views. Women are viewed as weaker, more reliant, and more domestic. According to society, men are more brutish and quicker to anger, whereas women must be decent, dress “appropriately,” and cannot be trusted during PMS.

Johnson also makes an excellent argument by arguing that patriarchal attitudes harm women and men. Men are held to a society’s ideal of being masculine, rough, and dominant. The patriarchy is a male-dominated societal system, yet it is a system at its core, not a man or a woman (Quagrainie 1-18). According to Johnson, we tend to interpret systemic failures on an individual level, generalizing males as oppressors, and as a result, men become defensive about their moral and ethical beliefs. Individually, this uncertainty and aggression do not work because the patriarchal system fails on a systemic basis. Individually, we are merely participants in the game.

There is no hierarchy in oppression, Lorde shares her personal struggles and all the many oppressions she had to go through. Going into patriarchal cultures and how it’s put us where we are living in today’s society is sad and terrifying. Patriarchy is just men making any and all decisions towards women. Many believed and still do that women should not be equally superior. Which isn’t fair we all should have the ability to have freedom and achieve what we want equally. 

It is quite baffling to me how patriarchy can be a polarizing topic. With some people saying it doesn’t exist and some arguing it’s an efficient system that doesn’t need any changes, it’s like they can’t see how damaging it is. One only has to understand the meaning of the term and then look at the demographic of the people in power throughout history to know why patriarchy does harm to all members of the society.

When we criticize the patriarchy, we’re not saying that all men everywhere have no hindrances. What we’re saying is that the issues they face rarely has anything to do with their gender, the intersectionality of race, social class, sexuality may are more likely to be the reason for any discriminations they face. This in no way means that one kind of oppression is more devastating than the other. However, it does mean that we ought to recognize the privileges we may have in a system that’s oppressive to someone else.

The reading by Allan Johnson’s “Patriarchy the System” was very interesting and clear to understand . He stated that “patriarchy” means the system of socially constructed inequality between men and women as they are defined in the political, social, and economic contexts that affects every aspects of our lives. Its also define as a system rather than an individual personality. Women are generally excluded from participating in politics, most of the time we do not see a salary transparency, and the sexual assault situations that women have to go through because men see us with inferiority. Talking about the piece of Audre Lorde, “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions” Its hard to thing that being a person of color and being part of a lesbian community means that you have a big probability to be abused, since those communities are seen as irregular and inferior. I really like that the autor mentions that there cannot be hierarchy of oppression. Lorde, has this concept of concurring all the oppression and having a society where being a woman, lesbian, black or a mother does not result in oppression. Oppression I believe is a situation that we all most have to go through, if its not because of your color of skin, it maybe can be because you do not have a good status.

I think it is exceptionally imperative to bring mindfulness to the distinctive levels and sorts of benefits that one can encounter in life. It is crucial to highlight the contrasts in encounters and medicines one gets since this intensely impacts a person’s supposition and beliefs which grows into companion bunches and distant down the line society as a whole. I discover it is dreamlike to be treated pleasantly when I physically show up to have a lighter complexion. My point is that those who are not abused or have never experienced persecution have lived through life from an advantage point of view. I keep in mind this comedian talking about going on a date with what is considered to be a “golden retriever boy” – fundamentally somebody who is fair, cheerful and silly and has no stress, but this specific “golden retriever boy” was white. She clarified how she was on a date with him and inquired “have you ever been through hardships”/ “have you ever experienced a tough time” and he reacted by saying “hmm wow, things have actually been pretty good for me actually” and he proceeded to smile. Not that white people are exempt from trauma or hardships but most white men don’t necessarily experience it because the system is set up to be in their favor. Without stories being told and brought attention to those who have lived a privileged life will never be able to understand that their version of life isn’t the one that is freely lived/shared by others.

Allan Johnson’s “Patriarchy the System” was a very detailed, lengthy informative piece discussing how patriarchy cannot be blamed or attributed to only one individual, or one man (as we most often see it), but instead should be seen as a result of systematic ideas where a society as a whole contributes to its existence. We, women, have blamed men, individually, or as a group for the patriarchy, but cannot see ourselves responsible for the fact that it is still very much alive. We choose to continue enforcing patriarchal ideas and systemic oppression rather than challenging it and questioning it. We submit to the normative behaviors that society has labeled as the “right” way to do things. We all participate in an entity much larger than all of us as individuals, as stated by Johnson, and if our participation ceased to exist, patriarchy would not exist as well. Johnson does not blame the system, but asks the people within that system to question how they may very well be contributing to these ideas that have become normative ways of living. We, after all, are the ones who make up the system and can dictate what goes on in it.

Audre Lorde’s “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions” details how intersectionality directly affects her as a Black, lesbian, feminist woman with two children who advocates for social rights. “Hierarchy” is defined as a “system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority”. She details how there are no levels of oppressions and how no levels of her oppression can benefit another. One oppression cannot be greater than another. What specifically stood out to me was the sentence in where she says “Any attack against Black people is a lesbian and gay issue, because I and thousands of other Black women are part of the lesbian community. Any attack against lesbians and gays is a Black issue, because thousands of lesbians and gay men are Black”. This part really stood out from the rest because she talks about a system in which one oppression is basically oppression for all levels of oppressions. To terminate the oppression of Black people, or LBGQT, would be the termination of all oppression.  

 “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, Them, or Us” by Allan G. Jackson examines how the notion of patriarchy is a system rather than an individual personality. 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 supposed to seem and behave.” People must comprehend how social systems perpetuate societal issues as a society. Johnson explains that in order to build an alternative socialization system, we must first comprehend the patriarchal system. While we all participate in social systems, we have the ability to change the system. Yes, it may appear that nothing has changed, but if we look attentively, we may see that we have gone a long way. But it doesn’t mean we should give up trying to make things better because there is always potential for improvement.

In “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions,” Audre Lorde discusses her identities and position as a member of oppressed communities. In the passage she goes over how sexism, heterosexism, and racism all work together as oppressive systems. What made her passage interesting is that she includes her experiences, the hardship she has to go through for being the person she is. Lorde says that in order to have a future where things are workable there shouldn’t be hierarchies of oppression. Nowadays, there are Black people who claim that being Black is normal, but this was not always the case. She recalls that historical period and the difficulties she faced just because of her skin tone. She continues to battle for her children because she wants a better world for them, herself, and the community. After reading these two sections, I felt like I had a greater comprehension of what was going on around me.

This weeks readings were very interesting and informative. I really enjoyed Allan Johnson, “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us” it goes in depth about the patriarchy and how it can affect multiple aspects of our lives. The text does a great way of explaining how we can’t blame individuals but try to understand everything as a whole to understand why everything is the way it is more in depth. However we should try to understand this social problem and try to solve it as a society. This definitely has shifted my perspective a little because I did believe that it was all mens fault but instead it is societies fault. The second reading “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions” written by Audre Lorde does a great job of explaining the experience of intersectionality. She explains her experience as a black lesbian feminist women who is connected to different communities and how these different communities interact with each other to create a big cloud of oppression. She explains how she doesn’t have the luxury of choosing to deal with one oppression but instead is forced to face all of them. She also explains how there is no oppression that is higher than the other one or better because they’re all still forms of oppression. This also goes to explain how if we want to fight against one oppression we will have to fight against all of them as a society because not everyone has the luxury of picking which oppression they choose to battle.

reading this two text opened my eyes a little. I had an idea of what oppression was from our last few readings but reading about someone’s experience hits different. when she explains how it is for a black and lesbian women in the 80s its a hard world because just then some things were still not acceptable for black people let alone lesbian. same with the text by Allan G. Johnson when its explained how patriarchy is a system and not a single person kind of problem . I mean yes sometimes we like to believe that a single men who’s misogynistic is “the ” problem but its bigger than that . it’s the system that taught this “man” that acting the way he does its okay.

Allen G. Johnson says “In general, a system is any collection of interrelated parts or elements that we can think of as a whole” I was taught that men are this perfect humans that we have to worship just like we worship our god, and that us women have to follow along and listen. just now I learned that this system its different parts of a whole car in a sense. our personal acts and believes makes a part of it, the way we think and act puts a part into that, the institutional part of it that consist of laws and whatnot. the cultural one where we were taught since we were children how male and women are supposed to act a certain way and if that’s not the case we would be judge by those around us.