It is essential to recognize patriarchy as a system and not an individual identity because it’s a socio-political system. The framing patriarchy as individual means men are privileged and dominate groups because we live in a patriarchal society. Men might not feel privileged, but they are. The patriarchy is a social system where men control primary power and predominate in political leadership, moral authority, social privilege, and property control. In the reading of Allan Johnson, “Patriarchy the system,” he explains that we should see things more clearly, the patriarchy is a system that includes cultural ideas about men and women, the intertwining of relationships that structure social life, and the unequal distribution of power, rewards, and resources that underlines privilege and oppression. We need to be more resistant to society not to force what we do not want.
Audre Lorde speaks about the intersectional thought behind oppression. In the reading of “there is no hierarchy of oppression,” Lorde wants us to know that there is not just one single problem but multiple. She explains that she is black in and within that Black community, she is a lesbian, and any attack against Black people is a lesbian and gay issue. There are just the factors; if it’s not one thing they pick apart, it is another. We as a society need to make the change. I was conversing with a friend who informed me about the offensive terminology that plumbers use to give you an example; there was “female fitting” and “male thread. I did go with the lightest of their terminology. The language is both ways because it is intimate and shouldn’t be used in a work setting. I would consider their vocabulary a form of oppression in a work setting that should be changed. There have been ongoing debates about whether the plumber’s terminology should change or stay the same since it has always been the same. I hope there can be a change because I find their terminology disgraceful.
In the end, we have to find the change we need to have roles be equal to give everyone the right to be respected as who they are and want to be. Given the opportunity of change can lead to many significant events in society. Oppression surrounds our everyday lives without being fully aware. We need to fully understand what we can do to help each other in every possible setting.

I think it is important to recognize patriarchy as a system because it is far more powerful than you can imagine. Patriarchy has existed for so long that it is difficult to pin the blame on a single person. I believe it is easier to blame the system because the outcome is truly everyone’s fault. For example, we cannot blame modern men for what men did thousands of years ago, but we can ensure that such mistakes do not occur again. As well as educating men on why it was wrong because it will all happen again if proper education is not given. That is why it is important that history be taught, regardless of whether it is “boring” or “depressing.” Winston Churchill once said, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” This, I believe, is why we see so many repeat offenses: no one is learning from the past. Anyway, because the system is to blame, it is our responsibility to dismantle the norms established by the very system that created patriarchy.

I believe that oppression begins at the cultural and structural levels. Our culture is where we get the majority of our ideas. Our cultures have a significant impact on us, regardless of how much we are aware of it. Many of the ideas and opinions that have been instilled in our minds come from our culture. In Jamaica, for example, the ideal beauty is “brown.” That means you have to be fair-skinned. Many people spend their entire lives bleaching their skin. Following this process, these norms become institutionalized—in other words, they become a written or unwritten rules. This rule is becoming more prominent in everyday life. Because these rules are becoming more common, they have an impact on how people act in social situations. Colorism is an example of this. After being treated unfairly because of their skin color, many people just treat fair-skinned people differently than dark-skinned people. Several people were programmed as children to marry someone with fair skin so that their children would be lighter. Finally, whether intentional or not, the personal process is when you begin to adjust these norms to your life. When that happens, you adopt the attitude and begin to firmly believe in those ideas. I believe these processes are used with men because they see how common it is to treat women poorly and begin to adapt that to their lives as a result of what they have learned.

To recognize patriarchy as a whole system and not as an individual identity is extremely important. Sometimes, when thinking about patriarchy, we think about individuals and their behaviors instead of thinking about the multiple components that make the patriarchy so big and difficult to end with. When we recognize that patriarchy is a system, we are able to see the full picture, and that there are rules or laws that keep women oppressed and contribute to keep normalizing sexist behavior. Every man is an oppressor and is part of the patriarchy. However, the system we live in normalizes that oppression towards women. Each one of us participates in the patriarchy somehow, it doesn’t matter what gender we identify with. When understanding that patriarchy is a system and not just individuals and their behavior, we know that to change that system, we need changes in the legislation and the people who write it. This way, the laws would promote gender equality, gender-based violence would not be tolerated and bigger sanctions would be applied to those who violate these laws, and so on. Even though patriarchy is a big system, individual actions keep it going. Being born and raised under the patriarchy cultivates sexist ideas in men and women. This can affect multiple levels like personal, interpersonal, institutional, cultural/structural. On a personal level, it can affect the perception we have about ourselves and our place in society. For example, a woman can believe that she shouldn’t pursue higher education because of her sex, and her role is to be a mother. It could affect the way she behaves around others, the idea she has of herself, and her body. The idea of the perfect body that is in our society, that women should have a big ass and breasts, and a tiny waist, it’s because the patriarchy objectifies women; on a personal level, can affect women’s perception of their physique. On an interpersonal level, we enact patriarchy in the way we approach other people based on their gender, how do we speak to them, and the idea of how they should be. For example, when I was younger, I and my friends used to think that it was disgusting when women didn’t shame. Because we verbalized those ideas, it affected the behavior of many of us. Another example is my mom when she cooks and serves food, she serves for men first, then for women, I tell her that she should serve her plate first since she cooked. At an institutional level, the patriarchy affects how laws, legal procedures, and rules tend to benefit more men than women. For example, the new Texas abortion law doesn’t prioritize women’s health, it seems that is only made to control them. Finally, on a structural level, the patriarchy normalizes women being in charge of home tasks and taking care of children, which affects their personal development and creates a development gap, the most developed countries are the ones with more equity between genders.

In the conference “patriarchy the system” we can see how Johnson does a great job explaining what patriarchy really is and how it originated. He explains how many times we blame society for why they are so sexist or because they are so discriminatory, but society itself is us. We created society so intent on criticizing anyone who is different, by the very fact that we grew up and felt it was right to criticize and follow the crowd. It is the same system that created society, that gave it the right and power to affect us whatever they want to criticize, instead of stepping forward and being what we actually feel we are or want to be. With this, he directs us to what patriarchy really is, as the system itself, we ourselves were what allowed men to have any right and women not. it is extremely sad, the fact that in his time and even some other person, a man is applauded for having had sex with a girl and then leaving her, but he is criticized for a girl having sex with a boy and then I left it. This is the same side of the coin, about how it is said that there is currently no patriarchy, when in our system we continue to do this. The fact that we have to see patriarchy as a system that encompasses any society, culture or even religion can show us how damaged and harmful society was and is in its time. I say the fact that the system is still harmful, despite all the movements that exist to have gender equality and not a system that focuses on the man being the only one with rights.

 The very fact that a while ago in high school we talked about patriarchy, and the teacher brought up whether we agreed that a man hit a woman for not doing “household duties for women”, and two girls raised their hands saying yes they agreed, at the time what I thought was a joke. But you saw the absurd reasons that the girls gave that surprised me and made me feel so sorry, the fact that the same cultures and the system they are developed, got used to seeing women in an inferior position than men. I see this case similar to Lorde’s reading “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppressions”, because it tells us about how she feels oppressed both by her race and her gender. He tells us about how everything is fine today and many people help change, but in his time this distinction did not exist and they only threw you at the stake for being different. I feel that the same system did a lot of damage to both women and anyone who is different, because in their time women may have felt that they were okay with the patriarchy, because of the same system, but now today I also feel that we are being more sensible in our decisions. As now we concentrate on being able to create a change and focus on what is more important, what the individual really wants and not what should be “right”. Because from everything I’ve seen, nothing is right or wrong, everyone has a way of seeing things and it’s better that they learn it their way and not exercise a vision of how it should be. I understand the fact that individual identity, I participate in creating society and the system, but for that very reason we have the right to be able to destroy it.

Melissa. Valle Discussion #5 

The 1^st reading “Patriarchy, the system” educated and explained to me the meaning of the word.  The understanding is that the word patriarchy is related to men because it identifies that all men are automatically oppressive. Johnson made me realize that there are stereotypes and misconceptions of the word that the world has about the word. T. Maybe because there are many distinct levels of meaning. People will misinterpret what you might be saying. We are all shaped by the system and shaped by society. Knowing that we did not create the system our existence has perpetuated it. We all have played a part in this system without realizing it, subconsciously or unconsciously. I think if we all become more educated and realize what Is going on we can all make a change but only if we speak up about it. How about we educate ourselves and make our own system of educating people on the right meaning? 

“There is no Hierarchy of Oppressions” Audre Lorde is so smooth with her writing.  Audre speaks about oppression and the intolerance that comes in all types of forms and shapes. To be free from oppression one needs to take on all the forms of oppression. Audre states “I simply do not believe that one aspect of myself can profit from the oppression of any other part of my identity.”  Any one of us can be oppressed but that does not make us any less important to be heard. My understanding she is explaining that intersectionality meaning “because you are a minority you get special treatment in the eyes of some” These are all aspects of identify and these identities can overlap. Audre Lorde educates us that all oppression’s must be recognized and fought against. Oppression is all around us, it is important to understand a person’s feelings regardless of what they are. 

I would like to start off with Allan G. Johnson’s Patriarchy, the system. He makes a point when it comes to men thinking that they are the patriarchy. Somehow men believe that they automatically own rights to everything, meaning the government, making laws, owning women, and controlling women especially. There is this unspoken word or rule that men run the show. Truth is there is not any way to make this untrue because our government is mostly run by a bunch of old white men. The oppression of women comes from men. He explains how maybe we should not blame one person or a broken system, instead of placing blame on society or men, that we should realize where the problem is and fix it. The government tends to ignore the problem. We live in a system who creates the problem and then acts oblivious when it comes to solving it. There was something that really hit home for me and that was class oppression, there are a lot of people who would love to succeed and make a ton of money however the system is built to keep you stuck. I have experienced this first-hand. When a system is against you it is extremely hard to keep moving forward. The patriarchy is obsessed with controlling women and people who are less fortune. The system is full of vague responses as to why or how things happen, no one who is in power has ever taken responsibility or accountability. A person of color’s experience in the patriarchy is different from the white women and men. I must mention how Allan G. Johnson mentions how in patriarchy the men are considered most valuable because they build, they are strong, they fight the good fight, and are good leaders. Which he explains that powerful forces taught us to believe that men are more capable. When it comes down to, we are not a patriarchy.  

Now when I read There is No Hierarchy of Oppressions by: Audre Lorde,  

She expresses how she is black and a Black woman at that, society has made her into this strong woman because she has no other choice. Society makes it extremely hard for her to even express her thoughts on when there is a problem she is known as being defiant, difficult, inferior, or plain wrong. She explains that people who want the freedom to live in their truths all come from mostly the same problems. However, there are a bunch of people who are in a state of acceptance of how this is the way things are specifically within the Black communities. People tend to ignore oppression and the unjust systems until it affects them. 

The word ‘patriarchy’ means a society in which male members have more social and political power than female members. It can be anywhere from the government to a family’s name comes from the male side of the family. Throughout generation, patriarchy developed from fathers, sons, uncles, and granddads and it begin passing down the male line and the female’s sovereignty decreasing. It is important to describe patriarchy as a system than an individual because it is a socially-constructed system in which males have the power and it factors from political leadership, business management religious institutions, economic systems, and many more right down to the family home where men are considered to be head of the household. This system has existed throughout the decade and patriarchy still exists. For example, if someone’s son holds the last name of the father who is famous, they want to continue holding the last name of their father’s last name, another example of patriarchy is where men make the rules while women stay home and take care of the kids. Patriarchy reinforces gender inequality against women by maintaining certain advantages in favor of men. Sometimes I believe patriarchy can be dangerous to women because it can lead to dangerous situations because can be disconnecting them from their emotions and frames seeking support as weakness. It can pressure men to conform to a narrow remedy to masculinity, to contend with one another, and prove their manhood by surrendering their individuality and denying their humanity.

Individuals can enact patriarchy through each level of oppression, while going through social media whether it’s Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook there have been women who are all about self-love when it comes to body hair, their body, or how confident they feel and they want to express it on the internet. There are women who are willing to dress whatever makes them happy and comfortable; however, there are times when patriarchy gets in the way because they are disgrading women what to wear and what not to wear based on their body weight, and especially believing that women cannot have body hairs and should lose some weight so they can look just like the models everyone sees on the magazines. This shows that patriarchy can work on each level of oppression influence one another because patriarchy is mostly shown as men showing male domination whether it’s cultural or social along with physical power to control women.

Discussion 5

It is important to describe patriarchy as a system and not an individual identity because the system exists regardless of whether one participates in it or not. I think Harry Brod words it perfectly when he says that privilege is not something he takes, therefore it isn’t something he cannot take. Society simply gives him this privilege and unless he changes the institutions from where this privilege comes from it will always be this way, the patriarchy works the same way. However, individuals do help keep this system in place, by engaging and acting on it and even by deciding not to do anything about it at all. There are many levels to how the patriarchy is upheld, one being cultural. For example, beauty standards have become impossible to live up to and social media has fueled it so, so, much. I can see this with my own sister (who is seven years younger than I am). I didn’t grow up with social media the way she has. Social media consumes her life, and she has grown to hate the way she looks because she doesn’t look like your standard beauty influencer. Her body isn’t like all the fit girls she follows, and when she posts a photo it has to be perfect, it has to be able to blend in with the rest. Sadly, this has been the reality of many teen girls growing up, a tremendous amount of pressure to look good, because you never know what might end up on the ‘gram.

There are of course, institutional ways the patriarchy oppresses certain people. There are laws against people having abortions, laws about who can get married and who cannot, in other countries some girls can’t even go to school.  And it’s not just legislative, people get discriminated against everyday, who can buy a house in which neighborhood and who cannot. Who gets to sit where at a fancy restaurant. I see micro acts of discrimination everyday. There are also interpersonal ways we uphold the patriarchy. This is the one that really gets to me, because I have been in the presence of it and it’s so distasteful. I know that it’s super easy to go ahead and immediately think of men doing this, with “locker room” talk for example but, women do it too. It ranges from women putting down other women to my mom letting me know that it’s not okay that I don’t have children already because every woman in our family does, and “what will my life be if I don’t get married and have children”. My mother has been brought up this way and doesn’t understand that perhaps unlike her, I have the privilege to decide when I want to get married/have kids or if I even want any of those things. Personal levels of oppression can be hard to shake off, when it is all you’ve ever known. Which shows just how complex and intertwined the system of the patriarchy really is. How it influences people and society on so many levels whether we realize it or not.

It is important to recognize patriarchy as a system and not individual identity because we need to examine the social norms and beliefs that reinforce the spaces for oppression to continuously happen.  It’s like giving tainted water to a community to drink and then when individuals become sick instead of blaming the water  just treating the individual without fixing the water source. Naturally people will continue to get sick because they are consuming something toxic to them. In order to fix things the “water needs to be clean to drink” and in the same ways that we will go through a process to  clean the water source, we will find out if the pipe system is the problem or filtration etc, we need to also as a society examine what behaviors and norms contribute to the toxicity that is patriarchy and the ways it oppresses woman and hurts men. On an individual level patriarchy can be a man withholding his emotions because crying isn’t for men. On an interpersonal level patriarchy is men telling other men or boys “wow you lost to a girl” as if losing to a girl is worse or more shameful then losing at all. Institutionally patriarchy  is regulating and policing how girls dress in schools and the Texas law against abortions beyond that influencing women to be submissive and the child rearers. Finally structural and cultural is relying on these expectations and a basis for respect. Like women need to be submissive and subordinate in order to gain protection from men against other men.In my personal life  I myself have both been hurt by and benefited from patriarchy.Growing up i went through a lot of shaming for expressing my masculinity.  In most spaces I’ve gotten resistance and some level of ostracized for the way I express my gender identity while still identifying as a woman. Men have threatened me and tried to force submission in my  interactions and the list goes on and on  but in other spaces  I have benefited from patriarchy and experienced a form of privilege when I was in certain spaces for example while with a feminine presenting person men have asked things like “oh that’s yours?” or “Tell your girl to chill” while giving me more respect and objectifying other women. I think it’s important to understand all aspects of patriarchy and how it influences individuals and work to unpack that within ourselves as well.

I believe it is important to recognize patriarchy as a system in order to properly funny understand and address its root causes. To place an individual or a group as the sole cause of patriarchal oppression is to limit ourselves in also making them the key to the solution. But these individuals were not created in a vacuum, they are a product of society, just as we all are. If we are all products of the same society, then we all participate in the same system that has wrought these individuals we deem to be the cause of all evil. But as Johnson illustrates, that thinking is paradoxical. Some people may benefit from the system more than others, or participate in it to some greater degree, but the system could not survive if we did not all in some way support its existence.

We are all shaped by the society in which we exist, we shape our identities around its edicts and are reflections of it. But societies are made of a collective of individuals, and thus the individual also shapes society. In this it is important to recognize patriarchy as a societal system to recognize our ability to change it. Some of us passively participate in the system, which in turn does nothing to change it. If we examine the ways in which we passively are participating it, we can then actively work to promote change in those same situations.

I think Johnson does a great job of demonstrating the ways in which it his harmful to misattribute blame within the system. While some people may be the main beneficiaries of the system, they may be as passive in their participation in it as those that are oppressed. Are they more to blame than anyone else? In misplacing our blame we are alleviating ourselves of responsibility. This may feel good, as none of us want to feel that we are taking part in our own oppression or the oppression of others. If we deny that we take any part in these systems we are blinding ourselves to the ways in which we can affect change. In a way we are actually denying ourselves power and strength. The greatest benefit would come from us all actively working towards change and taking responsibility to shape the society in which we live. While no individual is the cause, individuals can maybe be the solution.

I believe that the structures of our culture, the ideals we hold of what is “true”, “right”, or “normal” are largely what shapes our personal thought. We measure ourselves and others against these ideals, the ways in which we conform or don’t, shaping our identities and opinions. Thus these cultural structures have conditioned our interpersonal behaviors, conditioned us whether through our perceived status or privilege or unconscious bias. We then shape our institutions to reflect and uphold the ideals of our society, and by proxy ourselves. As institutions are the governing rules by which we live by, there is in some way the greatest opportunity to effect systemic change at this level, hoping it will trickle down to interpersonal and personal levels and then become established upon a cultural or structural level, but I think our struggles with civil rights have shown how long and fraught this road can be.