In Patriarchy, The System, Allan Johnson writes, “patriarchy is, by definition, a system of inequality organized around culturally created gender categories, we cannot avoid being involved in it. All men and all women are therefore involved in this oppressive system, and none of us can control whether we participate, only how” (pg.14). It is essential to recognize patriarchy as a system rather than an individual because we cannot simply blame it on a single person if it’s overall a collective mindset. As individuals, we participate in the system but have the power to decide what choices we make in order to dismantle it. Patriarchy is a part of our everyday lives, whether conscious or not.
The different levels of oppression in which patriarchy may work are personal. Interpersonal, institutional, and structural/cultural. From a personal level, a man may be distrustful of women, may find their success threatening, and may view them as objects rather than people. On an interpersonal level, a man could be physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive towards women and feel that they are allowed to act that way because they are superior. An example of the institutional level of oppression, women are often viewed as weak and spoken over. It is more common for a man to be promoted and run a business or company than a woman because women are seen as incapable. An example of structural/ cultural oppression in which patriarchy may work is that we are taught that women are delicate and need a man’s help for many things. The very false idea that a woman wouldn’t be able to do certain things without a man. Overall the different levels indicate that men have power over women, and we are born into this long-standing system where most of us participate unconsciously.
Audre Lorde’s “There is no Hierarchy of Oppressions” states, “Within the lesbian community I am Black, and within the Black community I am a lesbian…I cannot afford the luxury of fighting one form of oppression only”. These lines helped me understand why there isn’t hierarchy when it comes to oppression. Any attack that a person receives affects all oppressed parts of that person. One isn’t greater than the other because they all influence one another in a way. Allan Johnson also wrote some words that helped me understand it on a deeper level. “…by participating in patriarchy we are of patriarchy and it is of us. Both exist through the other, and neither exists without the other” (pg.14).