What is patriarchy?
Patriarchy is a “concept that explains the systematic gendered organization of all areas of social life—economic, political, and ideological—such that more social resources, power, and value accrue to men as a group at the expense of women as a group” (Rosemary Hennessy, “Queer Visibility in Commodity Culture,” p. 744).
Patriarchy is a form of domination, which extends to and is manifested in all forms of oppression. This includes, but is not limited to, racism, classism, colonialism and neo-colonialism, the destruction and exploitation of the Earth, the murder of indigenous peoples, the commodification of daily life experience, and all forms of personal and societal oppresion.
-Patriarchy is a system of entitlement that rewards behavior that is anti-woman, anti-queer, anti-body, anti-nature, and anti-color.
-Patriarchy interacts with other forms of oppression and affects people differently based on their social locations.
-Patriarchal values are embodied in interpersonal relationships and everyday life.
-Anyone, whether he/she/co occupies a socially subordinated category or not, can gain degrees of power and privilege by advocating patriarchal values.
-There is no one or singular form of patriarchy. It manifests itself differentially in different social and historical contexts.
There are many ways to respond to the problem of patriarchy. While some women have attempted to claim equal access to the dominance, exploitation, and power of men, others have emphasized the feminine as “better” than the masculine, essentially just flipping the coin. However, neither approach reflects our core beliefs. We understand gender oppression is deeply intertwined with racism, classism, colonialism, ableism, the state, the destruction of the environment, and ultimately civilization itself. As many activists and academics have discovered, single-issue struggles fail to create radical change.
Our Vision
– Our primary goal in organizing this conference is to articulate, reflect on, and resist the multifarious ways in which patriarchy enters our lives.
-This year’s Against Patriarchy conference will focus on environmentalism, feminism, anti-racism, queer politics, and anarchy. The organizing collective is different from the 2002 and 2003 conferences.
– This gathering is meant to bring passionate people together in an empowering yet challenging, environment. We desire to cultivate radically accountable and safe community spaces.
– Since patriarchy tells only one story and teaches only one way of knowing—the naturalization of power and oppression, dominance and submission, neocolonialism, binary genders, etc.—a feminist consciousness can create space for multiple ways of knowing, which are pro-body, pro-nature, pro-agency, and pro-community.
-We are not shy of radical change, deep coalitions, or personal and political risk.
Posted in anarchy, feminism, patriarchy, politics, queer, social justice, socialism
Women’s Studies Professor Noël Sturgeon,
against patriarchy 2007 gathering (eugene, or) 