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a term coined by feminists, to blame men for all their problems.
jane: “why have we ran out of bread?”
gill: “because of the patriarchy.”
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 s-xual 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 s-xism, patriarchy – h-ll, 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…
a social organisation that grants power to men and oppresses women through political, social and economic inst-tutions. 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: d-mn patriarchy.
a society where

– men have a disproportionate share of political, economic, and social power;

– men control all systems of representation (religion, “media,” literature, etc.) and use them to depict the world from their point of view and marginalize women;

– there are widely shared cultural beliefs that men are more socially valued and more competent than women at most things (e.g., michael conway et al., 1996; david wagner and joseph berger, 1997; john williams and deborah best, 1990; and susan fiske et al., 2002);

– women are the primary targets of gender violence and men are the primary perpetrators of gender violence;

etc.
all societies are, and always have been, patriarchies.

those who are uneducated, miseducated, or “masculinists” = “advocates of male superiority or dominance” (merriam webster dictionary online) should at least try to comprehend this simple truth about the great evil aka patriarchy.
the deity of the 21st century liberal woman; it doesn’t exist but they acknowledge its influence.
“the patriarchy is the reason why i can’t wear a miniskirt without being sl-t shamed”
a non-existent ent-ty used as a scapegoat by women, when there is no other individual to blame other than themselves (as if they’ll own up to that).
it’s not my fault that i got rejected for this job because i’m underqualified, it’s the patriarchy’s.
the bogeyman that feminists blame for women’s problems or under-achievements because their big-girl pants apparently don’t fit.

however seeing as women are free to pursue any career they want, own any property they wish, attend any college they desire, are owning businesses and running corporations, actively involved in political power, engineering and science, are protected from discrimination by law and are openly praised for all this to cloying degree… we are not living in one and have not been for some time.
it is rumored that every man secretly receives a patriarchy check in the mail each month. feminist scholars are still trying to confirm this.

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