Recognizing patriarchy as a system and not an individual identity is important because it acknowledges that the root of the problem is institutional. For this exact reason, it is important that we work to deconstruct the system, and rebuild it from the ground up- entirely devoid of anything resembling patriarchy. For some time now, there has been a misconception as to what the patriarchy is and oftentimes, there has been a belief that the patriarchy is not a system but a person- specifically men. As Allan G. Johnson states in the article Patriarchy, the System, “If we are ever going to work toward real change, it is a confusion we will have to clear up.” As obvious as it may seem for those who understand that the patriarchy is an institution, there are still many people who are either not educated properly, or as Allan states, “blame individual men for patriarchy simply because they are men.” A perfect analogy is used by Allan G. Johnson in his article. He proposes the scenario of a man who rapes and expresses that from the individualistic standpoint, we would ask ourselves “what encouraged this man to rape?’ instead of asking ourselves: “what kind of society would promote persistent patterns of such behavior in everyday life?’ Is this because it is harder to gauge the fact that the problem runs a lot deeper than a few individuals who are not acting accordingly? When we analyze the actions of one individual, we are moving away from addressing the real problem. This is where the importance and meaning behind recognizing the patriarchy as a system and not an individual identity, come into play. 

            There are four levels of Oppression and they are Personal, Interpersonal, Institutional and Cultural/Structural. Each level is unique but they do influence one another. The patriarchy as we know it is a system, but there are individuals that enact the patriarchy in their personal thoughts, interpersonal actions, as members of institutions, and in the structure of our culture. The first level which is the Personal level, begins with feelings and beliefs which may be conscious or unconscious. This is due to the fact that the Personal level deals with our upbringing and the kind of environment we were in when we begin experiencing and establishing certain feelings which may come about unintentionally. The second level is the Interpersonal level, which deals with verbal cues and can be seen when a girl is told by her father that she cannot join the army because she needs to start a family. The third level is Institutional which is when we are exposed to the practices or procedures that have been at play at the expense of others. Whereas the previous two levels are looking at the individual, this level is dissecting the practices that have been put in to place, be it knowingly or unknowingly- but always at the expense of some people. An example of the Institutional level can be seen a law is passed that prohibits the rights of a woman having control over her body and what happens to it, which occurs more often than it should. Lastly, we are at the final level which is Cultural/Structural. At the final level of Oppression, we are looking at what has been depicted as “normal” and has been accepted by many for years, because it has been dubbed “right.” An example of this can be seen with the discussion of sexuality and the misconception that sexuality is rigid and set, when it is in fact fluid and can change as you age.

It is important to recognize patriarchy as a system and not an individual identity because it runs so much deeper than some people may think. Men are misogynistic because we live in a patriarchal society. Women can be misogynistic, too, and can also have a lot of internalized misogyny. Certain values are instilled in us from birth, and ingrain themselves deep in our subconscious. The people around us – our family, our peers, were also shaped by this system, and so, the cycle continues with us. By acknowledging that the patriarchy is something that we all participate in, whether we realize it or not, we can work towards dismantling these patriarchal standards and ideas. Of course, it won’t happen overnight. Patriarchal ways of thinking need to be unlearned, and we need to educate ourselves.

The patriarchy can work at different levels, including personal, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural or structural. At a personal level, patriarchal views and ideals can be observed in our very own thoughts. I think an interesting example of the more personal effects of patriarchy among women is the feeling of being “watched” – the feeling of putting on a performance and looking good when you know you are alone, and nobody is watching (but what if, hypothetically, someone – a man – is?). There is sometimes a nagging pressure to be desirable all the time. These feelings are definitely perpetuated by the male gaze, which is an effect of the patriarchy.

Secondly, there is the interpersonal level. This includes words and actions that are rooted in misogyny. For example, a man telling his girlfriend to cook, clean, and behave like a caregiver or a maid. It could also look like a woman putting down another woman in order to make her look bad in front of a man, therefore competing for his attention. It includes cat-calling, a mother not allowing her son to play with “girl’s toys,” and belittling people for having “girly” interests. The list goes on and on.

Thirdly, there is the institutional level. Around the world, there are many methods government officials use to punish women. A very common one has to do with reproductive rights – abortion bans, which are still unfortunately prevalent to this day. In addition, although on a much smaller scale, dress coding is also another example of institutional patriarchy. Young girls’ clothing is policed in school, oftentimes enforced so as to not be “distracting.”

Finally, there is the cultural/structural level. This includes heteronormativity, the firm belief of traditional gender roles, homophobia, transphobia, toxic beauty standards, and so on. These types of ideas make their way into our brains at a fairly young age, and if we’re lucky, we can unlearn them and educate ourselves as we grow older.

If we want to change patriarchycompletely, we should let people know the difference, so that people know what blocking us is a system, not any individual identity. But only summary it as the system’s fault is not a solution, we need to know what the system is and how can we change it. If people can understand the system leads to some problems, then people’s questions and action would focus on the system instead of blaming certain individual identity. If people focus on how the system produces these problems, so that there will be movements and change to the system.

There are four levels of oppression: personal, interpersonal, institutional and cultural/structural.

From personal level:

• Misogyny is common and even women would have misogyny. Some women would stand with their husbands or boyfriends first than stand with other women. They would consider other women as enemies that would be able to steal their partners.
• Women can’t be trusted; men are the ones can protect others and the ones that are able to protect others because they are stronger.

From interpersonal level:

• Some words were originally described women in a good way but under pa…. Culture, their meanings had been changed and become insulting words.

From institutional level:

• Women are not allowed to have their own credit cards or inherit poverty from their biological parents/family.
• In China, the law of marriage is more beneficial to husbands than wives. Also in China, if a wife went to police station to file her husband uses violence to her, generally the policemen would not take it seriously and would concern it as regular family argument first, they would persuade the wife to go back home with her husband and live life as normal.
• While a woman and a man telling a same opinion, the woman party is easier to receive more doubt compared to the man party. A man’s word seems more convince.

From cultural/structural:

• Women menstruate is always being considered as bad, gross, and many women even feel shamed about it, and they don’t want to talk about it in public even it is normal and natural. Advertisement about tampons and pads always using blue liquid instead of red liquid to represent the blood.
• When I was a kid, I remembered some family members especially the male family members would talk to my family that don’t need to pay so much attention and money for my education because I am a girl. In their opinions, girls would marry someone one day and become other people’s family members.

• Patriarchy is taught to us from a young age that there are two sides, and that the individuals who participate chose to do so. Because of this, it complicates the bigger picture of how patriarchy surrounds us and enforces its place in society. As a system, we recognize that what we are fed on a daily basis leaves us to believe that we can only have one perspective on what is right and wrong. An example of this can be seen when a man enforces patriarchy because he works a well paying job to provide for his family and would never accept his wife to get her own source of icome because that would invalidate his masculinity. When we expand our thought process on the matter, we start to understand that the system encompasses our beliefs to controls how we percieve patriarchy. It is easier to combat these views when we realize that it is bigger than the individual who choses to participate. The system being; what we see on the news, throughout social media, in books and magazines and on television. When we become aware of how deeply rooted patriarchy is, we are more inclined to stop pointing fingers at one another and focus on how to create change.
  
  When viewing the levels of oppression, we start at the bottom with personal. These beliefs and feelings can come about in marital relationships, or even job status in the workplace. There are times when people are unconscious about their participation on a personal level because it is “how it was growing up”, but there are also people who strongly believe that there is no other way to feel regarding the system.
  The next level is interpersonal, showing us visually and verbally how people participate in patriarchy. This might take place when a man tells a woman she can’t wear the dress she wants because it is too revealing. We also see interpersonal levels of oppression when women cross the street to avoid a man who “seems dangerous”. The woman is assuming she might get hurt and choses to preemptively protect herself based on what her personal level of oppression has taught her.
  After interpersonal comes institutional – this is where things get interesting. This is when we discard the idea that individuals dictate patriarchy and oppression. The institutional level replaces the personal feelings, beliefs, and thoughts with rules and pracitices that are intentionaly and unintentionally instilled in society. An example of this is when we recently saw the Texas Heartbeat Act passed, controlling womens reproductive rights in the state of Texas. This is an intentional act passed by our American Government by mainly male republicans who believe it is not right for a woman to chose abortion under any circumstance.
  Finally we come to the final level of oppression: structural. This is the normalization of what is right and necessary for society to be based off of. An example of this takes us back to one of our first discussions regarding sex- that many people believe there are only two genders and no room for further discussion. This is the “natural” and “beautiful” concept that we are taught at a young age, and to not change our minds regarding the topic.

It is essential to recognize the difference between systematic and individualistic views. Most people who follow patriarchy follow it because of the idea that it has been a long-time system, and most people are afraid to break it. Usually, when people get offended when insulting patriarchy, it’s because most times, they feel the need to stand by that system. Other times, it just hurts their manhood, to be honest. Most times, the ones following the patriarchal system are a cultural/structural and institutional level of oppression. Most of them feel the need to follow that system because it was born into and is most of what they know. In Allan Johnson’s “What Is This Thing Called Patriarchy?” He wrote, “We need to see and deal with the social roots that generate and nurture the social problems that are reflected in and manifested through the behavior of individuals.” I chose this quote because the system partly shapes the individual’s identity. Those that stand by patriarchy are also oppressed within the existing system. People are raised under certain beliefs at a personal level and want to follow those beliefs. Most times, it’s within their conscious, but other times it’s not. Most people do things unconsciously and don’t even realize it. This happens to a lot of people. Sometimes they are born into a system and assume what’s wrong is right and vice versa. Interpersonal is how we react to things, our language, and our behavior—following a patriarchal system can choose how to act when in a given situation. For example, “The path of least resistance in such a situation is to go along and not make any trouble…, and unless he is willing to deal with the greater resistance that would follow, that is the choice he is most likely to make,” (Johnson 31). This quote shows the way people think when a situation is presented to them. The man sees a young girl being sexually assaulted by another at a party from the selection above. He has different ways to react and how he can not react. Most times, most people would just stick to the less problematic option hoping someone would step up instead of them. Hopefully, he makes the right choice and helps her out because that would be “structurally” correct in society. If we want change, we need to be physical about it. It’s come to that point in time.