What is Patriarchy?
1.
A social system in which a father is the head of the family, property ownership and surname are traced through the male line, and men have legal or social authority over women and children. A family, community, or society based on this or a similar system, or governed by men to a degree far out of proportion to their numbers.
Jane Doe: Can you believe patriarchy still exists after all our valiant struggles?
John Doe: What do you mean? Patriarchy doesn't exist! Sure, women make on average a lot less than men for the same work, and sure, there are very few women in positions of power in government and business, but at least now we let you vote and own property!
Jane Doe: But why didn't you take my last name when we married? Why are women still raped (outside of prisons) so much more often than men, and why do men so often inflict rape on others? Why do we still have a sexual division of labor, with some entire industries dominated by men and other industries, typically lower paid, staffed almost entirely by women? Why is it, when someone says "doctor" everyone thinks "man" and when they say "nurse" everyone thinks "woman?" The same is true of "construction worker" vs. "secretary," "engineer" vs. "stripper," "soldier" vs. "maid"... you name it! Why is it a scandal when a middle aged woman like Demi Moore marries a man in his twenties, but it's routine for rich old men in their 60s and up to marry barely legal young 'trophy wives?' It's so common it has it's own term!
John Doe: I guess you're right. Come to think of it, I've been trained to take on all sorts of patriarchal roles that I don't like myself! I've been trained to act like an automaton, to hide my feelings, to be "the provider" in an economy where two parents working is the norm, to go off and die in wars... you know, Jane, a lot of my anti-feminist anger is really unjustified! I've just been resentful of my own role within patriarchy, in such a misdirected way I couldn't even see it existed. I've been defending what I felt were privileges, but in fact were limitations. It's time for us to smash all forms of sexism, patriarchy - hell, even matriarchy if it ever crops up anywhere - together!
Jane Doe: Now you're talking! Let me get my hammer!
John Doe: You know, dear, this means you'll have to face the draft, too...
Jane Doe: True, sweetie, but there should be a lot fewer wars with patriarchy out of the way!
John Doe: Actually, love, capitalism, not patriarchy, is the root of imperialism and resource conflicts, which are the primary cause of modern wars...
2.
A social organisation that grants power to men and oppresses women through political, social and economic institutions. Harmful side effects include the gender binary, unequal wages and Rush Limbaugh.
Person A: Did you know that women do two thirds of world labour and own less than one percent of world property?
Person B: Damn patriarchy.
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3.
A rhetorical device which props up feminist ideology by making it easy to impose a state of collective guilt upon half the human race, namely the male half. Upon closer examination, we find that 'patriarchy' as a concept is either A.) Coherent only when too narrowly defined to be broadly useful, or B.) INcoherent when it IS broadly enough defined to be broadly useful.
Feminist ideologues promote the idea of patriarchy nonetheless, because they are banking upon the average person's lack of analytical discrimination -- rather like slipping a 'mind rape drug' into the punchbowl of common discourse. You might wake up with a weird feeling, but you have no idea that you've been screwed.
When radical feminists talk about 'patriarchy', it is actually a code word for Male Power of ANY sort whatsoever. So long as any man on earth has anything that could even vaguely be described as power (up to and especially the power of self-control), they wll say that patriarchy still exists, and that feminism's work is not finished. They want feminism to have a job for a good long time....
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4.
patriarchy (PAY tree AHR kee)
1)a facade; a construct with no underlying foundation or validity.
2)an imaginary entity; a figment of someone's imagination.
3)any entity or idea created by the rewriting or revision of history.
1)"Old western movies used PATRIARCHIES to simulate actual storefronts, saloons, etc"
2) "I saw a PATRIARCHY last night, then I woke up and realized I had been dreaming"
3)"We did not win the war in Vietnam..the notion that we did so is a PATRIARCHY"
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5.
(1) A man-ocracy that used to exist in America and made it legal for men to beat their wives and keep women from voting. Torn down by feminism.
(2) What ultra-feminists say is still in power in America when they're being full of shit.
(1) I just beat the shit out of my girlfriend. Then, I fucked her while two cops watched. Thank God for the patriarchy!
(2) It's amazing that any female senators have penetrated the new patriarchy.
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