Word of the Day by Jorge Díaz Ortiz
Patriarchy is a cultural, political and ideological construct based on the practices of subordination and exploitation of women by men through systems of oppression which affect all institutions and structures in our society.
Historically the oldest form of oppression, it has been established and implemented by men in misogynist and eugenic efforts to guarantee private property through a heteronormative family structure and its continuation through lineage, while also guaranteeing the reproduction of the workforce.
Patriarchy starts from the reinforcement of the gender binary to control women’s bodies and their reproduction. The gender binary and rigid heteronomative relationship structures have led to the subjugation of women and LGBTQI people.
Institutionalizing political, social and economic policies establish the acceptable roles and norms for women in our society. At the same time, misogynist individuals, institutions and society promote and condone the use of violence in all of its forms against women, femmes and non-gender conforming people to ensure through fear and dominance, the longevity of patriarchy.
Patriarchy not only works to directly oppress women, but by reducing the woman to a vessel for reproduction, essential for the continuation of the family and the race, patriarchy became the starting point for the notion of superior ethnicities or white supremacy, and the justification for colonialism and the enslavement of so called “inferior races.” Therefore, patriarchy plays a fundamental role in racial capitalism and its imperialist forces worldwide.
Modern patriarchy continues to uphold the same misogynistic systems and institutions, guaranteeing the dominance of men (even recruiting women willing to conform and consent to hegemony), and to reproduce its ideology and practice as accomplices charged to be the exceptional representatives of the oppressed who are willing and able to uphold and participate in the same structures which perpetuate the collective exploitation of women.
Today, women are still held responsible for the family and its success within the parameters of accepted social norms and expectations. Throughout the world, women must provide economically, hold the family together, and clean and maintain the house, in what has been recognized by many feminists as the “double shift”.
Radical currents of feminism in the US, Black feminism in particular, have taught us the intersectionality of our collective identities and how the interlocking systems of oppression as The Combahee River Collective would precisely name in their manifesto of 1977, make women much more vulnerable to exploitation and poverty.
A transnational, anti imperialist, anti-capitalist abolitionist and anticolonial, radical feminist agenda is fundamental if we are to resolve the main contradictions in our society for our survival as a species. Abajo el patriarcado. This has been the word of the day.
Datos y Dibujos - Patriarchy by José Hernández Díaz
Patriarchy is a cultural, political and ideological construct based on the practices of subordination and exploitation of women by men through systems of oppression which affect all institutions and structures in our society.
Historically the oldest form of oppression, it has been established and implemented by men in misogynist and eugenic efforts to guarantee private property through a heteronormative family structure and its continuation through lineage, while also guaranteeing the reproduction of the workforce.
Patriarchy starts from the reinforcement of the gender binary to control women’s bodies and their reproduction. The gender binary and rigid heteronomative relationship structures have led to the subjugation of women and LGBTQI people.
Institutionalizing political, social and economic policies establish the acceptable roles and norms for women in our society. At the same time, misogynist individuals, institutions and society promote and condone the use of violence in all of its forms against women, femmes and non-gender conforming people to ensure through fear and dominance, the longevity of patriarchy.
Patriarchy not only works to directly oppress women, but by reducing the woman to a vessel for reproduction, essential for the continuation of the family and the race, patriarchy became the starting point for the notion of superior ethnicities or white supremacy, and the justification for colonialism and the enslavement of so called “inferior races.” Therefore, patriarchy plays a fundamental role in racial capitalism and its imperialist forces worldwide.
Modern patriarchy continues to uphold the same misogynistic systems and institutions, guaranteeing the dominance of men (even recruiting women willing to conform and consent to hegemony), and to reproduce its ideology and practice as accomplices charged to be the exceptional representatives of the oppressed who are willing and able to uphold and participate in the same structures which perpetuate the collective exploitation of women.
Today, women are still held responsible for the family and its success within the parameters of accepted social norms and expectations. Throughout the world, women must provide economically, hold the family together, and clean and maintain the house, in what has been recognized by many feminists as the “double shift”.
Radical currents of feminism in the US, Black feminism in particular, have taught us the intersectionality of our collective identities and how the interlocking systems of oppression as The Combahee River Collective would precisely name in their manifesto of 1977, make women much more vulnerable to exploitation and poverty.
A transnational, anti imperialist, anti-capitalist abolitionist and anticolonial, radical feminist agenda is fundamental if we are to resolve the main contradictions in our society for our survival as a species. Abajo el patriarcado. This has been the word of the day.
