I’ll begin by defining patriarchy, because I don’t yet have a definition that I can say I am completely satisfied with which wraps up every underlying meaning. These meanings I feel as though must be portrayed in order to fully understand Patriarchy and the concepts within it. Most importantly, I’d discuss what patriarchy has to do with men and what it has to do with all of us. Alongside these varying contributions, expressing my deep concerns about continuing to operate within the patriarchal paradigm that has been with us. At least those of us who are part of Western civilization, for some time now. Ultimately I’d conclude by saying what I believe each of us can do about these already deeply rooted structures. Allan Johnson defines patriarchy in his article “Patriarchy, the System,” and addresses the common misconceptions and stereotypes that people associate with the term. He claims that people tend to generalize and associate the term patriarchy with men, leading them to believe that all men are oppressive. Johnson contends that these misconceptions must be dispelled in order to solve social dilemmas, for example “If we’re ever going to work toward real change, it’s a confusion we’ll have to clear up.” (Johnson) Johnson effectively identifies common misconceptions about patriarchy and convincingly argues that this ignorance and individualist perspective is contributing to societal problems. As In Audre Lorde passage she speaks about specific social intersections on which she explained through the eyes of black, lesbian, feminist, socialist and interracial lovers. Her message, however, can be applied to a wide range of social realities to account for differences in ethnicity, age, class, geography, ability, and so on. Additionally stating that, “I have learned that sexism and heterosexism both arise from the same source as racism”(Lorde). Here Lorde implied that oppression doesn’t necessarily know any progressing boundary concepts, if oppression against one group is allowed to flourish, it will eventually spread to oppress others.

A key point of the many things that may make it complicated to actually speak about patriarchy, or any of other systems following it, is that most people’s awareness of systems as distinct from the individuals who live within and are affected by them has been systematically rooted out. Instead, everything is viewed as a separate problem with separate results. Unfortunately, this is also why the main achievements of a wave of feminism in the United States, for example, have been at the individual level, such as access to more types of jobs and education, or increased reproductive choice. There has been very little change in the system that I refer to as patriarchy, and individual changes have not been available to women who are darker-skinned and/or of limited economic means in an essence.