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The game plan is the same, whether it be poverty of racism or the poverty of patriarchy. Poor whites were given just a smidgen more social and economic power that the poor blacks in the USA – enough to make the us vs. them categorization viable. The will of the oppressor is carried forth on the backs of those he oppresses, whether it be the handmaidens of patriarchy or the poor white people, historically speaking.
“The system of patriarchy can function only with the cooperation of women. This cooperation is secured by a variety of means: gender indoctrination, educational deprivation; the denial to women of knowledge of their history; the dividing of women, one from the other, by defining “respectability” and “deviance” according to women’s sexual activities; by restraints and outright coercion; by discrimination in access to economic resources and political power; and by awarding class privileges to conforming women.”
-The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner
This is the same RCMP that just got its ass sued for $100 million dollars because of its misogynistic treatment of women. A quick snip from that story –
“We hurt you. For that, I am truly sorry.”
Those were the words from RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson to every woman who was ever harassed, belittled, demeaned or assaulted in the RCMP, as he announced a stunning $100 million compensation package at a news conference in Ottawa Thursday.
“It’s an acknowledgement of the culture that has existed since its inception,” said Catherine Galliford.”
So, one of the most iconic and venerable institutions in Canada – one that is supposed to uphold the LAWS OF THE LAND and stand on the side of justice – also happens to be rife with patriarchal misogyny (the cosmic background radiation of our society). And they just admitted it. This settlement will get its own post, of course, but it helps set the stage for the other story which is the focus of this post.
Let’s mull over this headline and article from the Calgary Sun.
Male Mounties Launched Suicide Pool for Bullied Female co-worker, Lawsuit Claims
“One of the first female members of the RCMP Musical Ride was bullied, hazed and sexually abused by her male colleagues to the point they launched a suicide pool and took bets on when she would kill herself, according to a multimillion-dollar lawsuit.
It was like a dream come true for Caroline O’Farrell when, at 25 years old, she was accepted to the famed Mountie Musical Ride.
But the dream quickly became a nightmare.
The alleged abuse from 1986 to 1987 included being repeatedly doused with cold water and then dragged face down by the arms and legs through stall shavings which included horse urine and manure. Others would then kick the wood chips, dirt, urine and feces onto O’Farrell’s head and body.
One of the hazings allegedly occurred just before her bachelorette party.
In one humiliating episode, her male colleagues locked her in a tack room and held a mock trial – including costumes, a judge, prosecutor and defence lawyer – and demanded she give them her underwear.
In another incident in 1987, a fellow RCMP officer stuck his finger out of the fly of his pants and stuck it near her ear as she slept while another member filmed it, the lawsuit alleged.”
Shit like this is what patriarchy is for women. It is systemic attack on their worth as human beings and it happens in nearly every facet of society. Patriarchy is ubiquitous and sadly remains fundamental to our society. Did you know what the best part is? Dudes that deny the existence of patriarchy – it’s 2016 for heaven’s sake – we certainly don’t need feminism calling out the grave injustices against women and fighting to change them. (/s …FML)
Let’s look to AuntieWanda for feminist analysis of this situation.
“Oh but women just aren’t suited for law enforcement, that’s why there aren’t that many women in the fiel-” SHUT THE FUCK UP AND READ WHAT WOMEN GO THROUGH IN MALE DOMINATED CAREERS.
Even those who are charged with protecting others will savagely use their power against women in horrific ways. And this was a member of their team. Imagine what sort of abuses these assholes subjected ordinary folks to.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police started a suicide pool because of their abuses and torture of their fellow officer. It is not like they did not know the damaging effects of what they were doing, they made a fucking game out of it.
Beyond that, their conduct only lost O’Farrell her position. She was removed “for her safety”.
They [the higher ups] were aware of the problem, but instead of actually punishing those responsible, they punished the victim. They remove women from these positions for their own safety, but allow the perpetrators of violence and humiliation to keep their positions.
What does that say other than “Women don’t belong here”? What does that say other than “You will be hurt and abused by us and the only one punished for it will be you, by losing your job”?
And people wonder why there are still male-dominated fields, people blame women for not being interested, for not being strong enough, for not being able to handle positions of power. People blame women for their own abuses at the hands of the men in these fields, for them losing their jobs, for them leaving of their own volition when the situations are so much more complicated and horrific than any of that implies.
No one who knew of what was happening deserves to still be an officer. Even if they didn’t participate, if they did not fight against what was happening with every ounce of their power, if they didn’t stand up for their fellow officer and denounce the abuses she was facing, if they never spoke up or if they helped cover up it doesn’t matter, they do not deserve their position of power if that is how they will use it.
This is the most frustrating thing. “Well why don’t women just go into those fields then?” This is why. Because men will threaten, harass, and even physically assault us for having the audacity of wanting particular careers.
Why aren’t more women in construction, the military, law enforcement etc.? This is fucking why. Men make us fear for our lives.”
Well said Wanda. Any questions?
We are on ‘easy-mode’ today as hollywood movie posters are not exactly puzzles wrapped in mystery shrouded in illusion – when it comes to illustrating the faint glow and hum of the patriarchal superstructure of the society we inhabit.
Well here we have the standard Avengers movie poster. Everyone in their heroic pose, but something is a little different for Black Widow. It seems, somehow (*gasp*) that some of her superpowers must come from displaying a well defined tuckus to the gaze of the viewer.
Is anyone else showing off their super-tuckus? Evidently not.
Through the magic of the internet, let us witness a great equalization, and redraw our poster.
And there we have it. Butt-power for all. Now tell me again about how equal society is and how we need to move past these tired and dusty feminists concepts like patriarchy and sexism…
Gleaned from [Stardate:Whenever]. (ed. edited for format and spelling)
The internal thoughts of one woman and her friend – their ‘joke’ about performing femininity. A small portal of insight into what women living under patriarchy have to deal with.
“I think I’m going to perform femininity today.”
“Oh, you don’t have to but whatever makes your feel comfortable.”
Standing at the mirror of the bathroom I am verbally acknowledging I am doing something that is a performance. I am also listening to someone verbally confirm that I dont need to do so. I am listening to someone who I seek healthy validation from, tell me that I do not need to perform femininity.
I acknowledge that my worth as a woman is not contingent on performing femininity. I acknowledge that my worth as a woman is not wrapped in the validation of men. I acknowledge that my worth as a woman is not serving society’s aesthetic desires.
I still put on makeup because there is a confidence that comes with performing femininity.
This is the toxicity of being a woman, even knowing that you are worth something because you exist, you still internalize a confidence in performing.
That confidence is more powerful than my academically trained mind.
That confidence is more powerful than my feminist history. That confidence is more powerful than my authentic worth.
I’m writing this post to remind women that the patriarchy is hard to fight and sometimes you will fall into the confidence that comes with pleasing a male-centered society. Whether that be wearing makeup, ignoring a sexist joke, or doing more than your fair share of work. There is a safety in doing what is expected, in an attempt not to stand out.
Feminism is a difficult political line to toe and sometimes you will fail to live up to the party line. You are no less a feminist when you fall down if anything your failings are further proof that the patriarchy is real and it’s crushing, controlling, and destroying women’s lives. It’s okay and I still see you as my sister. For the women who wake up and fight femininity-normativity, in whatever way they might do, I want to congratulate you”
“Male violence against women does not simply take place in the cocoon of an individual relationship. It is structural, it is systemic. The pattern, the overwhelming consistency with which women are the victims and men the perpetrators should be a big clue. Male violence against women is not random, it has a function and that function is to maintain the social order of male dominance: patriarchy. Male violence against women is a cause and consequence of inequality between women and men. In the UK, the mainstream is very quick to identify ‘other’ religions as oppressive to women but this is equally true of Christianity. Religion reinforces and upholds patriarchy, forgiveness is just another of its tools. We do not need to forgive male violence against women unless we want men to continue to dominate women.”
The world’s oldest profession is easily the world’s worst ‘profession’.
“We know working in prostitution causes higher rates of ptsd than participating in war, we know women are severely abused during sex, we know sex industry is heavily linked with child trafficking and human trafficking, we know most participants have to be severely drugged in order to be able to participate, we know a lot of women trapped in porn industry are coerced and have no other choice but to do it, we know a lot of them aren’t even aware they’re being trafficked, we know a lot of them aren’t aware what they’re going through is slavery, we know women’s consent isn’t respected in sex
industry, we know they’re being forced to do more and more and damage their bodies more than they would ever consent to, we know men are getting off on humiliation, degradation, dehumanization and destruction of women’s bodies, we know it’s damaging the women this is done to, we know it’s forming the entire society’s idea of sexuality and how sex and female bodies should look like and be handled, we know porn causes higher rates of rape, we know porn causes violent and painful sexual experiences for women, we know that porn causes child-on-child rape, we know it hijacks everyone’s sexuality, we know as a society we no longer have a clue what healthy sex looks like.
How could anyone with a smallest bit of compassion and empathy defend it? How could anyone disregard millions of victims and their experiences? How could anyone insist sex industry should keep existing despite catastrophic amount of damage to everyone, not just people involved, but to everyone ever exposed to it? Porn can be stopped, if everyone who still has their compassion stood up against it, it can be stopped. Let’s start working on it. Let’s make porn a painful, catastrophic history.”
Oh you darn Men. Is there anything you cannot do?
Given the calibre of many male self-identified feminists, one would have to conclude that the answer is generally “no”. If tomorrow Patriarchy absconded (woo!) and humanity somehow got its collective head around the notion that women are people and were treated as such – then I think men could be feminists (although with patriarchy gone there might not be the need for feminism), but that is the only case that I can think of at the moment.
The problem facing male feminists is the differing ways in which the sexes are socialized. Different language, nuances, and expectations are foisted upon girls and boys by the societal environment around them. This is what the social construction gender looks like .
Like it or not, metrics like these are used in society to evaluate your efficacy in terms of being in one particular sex role, or the other. Gendered socialization is inescapable as it is the societal air we breathe toxic as it may be. So take a moment and consider how your perception of the world is right now and then then imagine if the the prism of how you look at society and how society looks at you is the other coloured box.
Thus bringing us to the fundamental point – women and men experience life quite differently, concomitantly life treats women and men differently. This wouldn’t be a problem if both sets of traits were equally valued in society, however, one set of traits is given precedence. And not just your ordinary precedence, but a precedence in a supererogatory degree.
This ‘precedence’ is what feminists like to call patriarchy. Patriarchy is simply the structuring, adjudicating, and maintenance of society for the benefit of one class of people who possess (in theory) the traits mentioned in the blue box. Those who are assigned the other box are assigned less importance and worth and treated accordingly in society. Thus, in a patriarchal society, the experiences of women and men are quite different.
Men doing feminism have to be very aware that how they interact with society is not the way it works for women. This point needs to be hammered home because, let’s be honest here, a good portion of dudes just don’t get it (sample the RPOJ tag for evidence of this assertion). 
Can men be effective in helping women push back the patriarchal tide? Absolutely! Being a feminist ally, and standing up for women, but not leading the charge is what dudes can do to make things better in society.
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