The Patriarchy is a false flag. A myth founded in an inaccurate worldview.
The first era is the primitive era. The land was wild and treacherous. Humans existed in tribes that competed fiercely for resources. Survival was one day at a time, hunting and gathering food. Fending off man and beast.
Biologically speaking, women were at a physical disadvantage in this world.
Physically smaller, with lower bone density, less muscle mass, and less fast-twitch muscle (the muscle fibers which are important to speed and strength).
And on top of that, they have babies. For nine months, they carry the weight of an extra person around, which impedes movement, reduces endurance. Biochemical changes cause loosening of ligaments, increasing joint instability. Then they must expel said body. A traumatic experience leaving them even more vulnerable.
It is easy to see how a woman was dependent upon a man during this era. It is perhaps less obvious - largely due to human shortsightedness, but a man was just as dependent upon a woman. More on that later.
In The second era, we see the rise of civilization, hunting and gathering gives way to agriculture, then industry. Men and women invent any number of labor saving devices, and creatures comforts - cars, heating and air conditioning, dish washers and laundry machines. The brute strength of the past is no longer requisite for day to day survival. Specialization and Division of labor, along with a robust economic system provide the means for as women to largely set aside her past dependencies.
Except.
There is still the issue of pregnancy and childbearing and child rearing. The companies that hire laborers want dependency, consistency. Childbirth interrupts that consistency. This interrupts her ability to labor in her career, which in turn interrupts her ability to obtain for herself the requisite food, clothing, and shelter needed for survival. So once again, she depends upon her male counterpart to provide, if not protect.
And thus is born the concept of "The Patriarchy". Men lording over women. subjugating them.
It seems a reasonable, logical claim. And one can find examples a-plenty to back that claim.
The third era brings the final solution. Technological advances give the world a vast array of ways and means for a woman to control, or eliminate altogether her childbearing functions. And should she still choose to bear children, large governments establish an array of laws and entitlements which require companies to provide time off and compensation for childbirth. Welfare programs extract surplus money from other laborers and give it to women. Women are now finally free of their dependency on men.
Except.
They are not free of their dependency. All this has done is shift her dependency from one man of her choosing. To an ever-changing body of bureaucrats and politicians - men and women (yes, mostly men - likely owing to our old friend biology again. Along with size, strength and speed, biology also tends to grant men greater levels of aggression and risk tolerance. One should note however that only a very few men come out on top in the struggle. The majority of men are also subjects and victims in this system.) to whom she is just one more anonymous face. The support they provide waxes and wanes, their attention drawn by any number of other whims which suit their fancy.
This problem is further compounded by the power to cease childbearing. What happens when there is no new generation to care for the old?
You see, the above is all seen through lens of the immediate. When one considers the long game, the dependency men have on women becomes more apparent. All people age, and with age comes infirmity. Speed, strength and endurance which served men in their prime fades. Before long, they too are dependent upon someone else to meet their basic needs.
So a man, from the very beginning was just as dependent upon the woman, to provide offspring who would care for the both of them in their dotage.
But, we humans are myopic in our thinking. We forget the "long game", we measure all men against the few who rise to the top by beating others to submission - The Bill Gates' and Andrew Tates' of the world. And so we blame "The Patriarchy".
But the Patriarchy doesn't exist. It is a figment of a feeble imagination. A distraction born out of a flawed approach to human interaction. The problem isn't - and never has been - the patriarchy, rather it is the mindset. When an individual views the world and their interactions through a confrontational, transactional mindset, they are always concerned about about what they are getting vs what the others are getting. Who is doing the most work? who is reaping the greatest benefits, who is sacrificing the most? Who got the biggest half of the cookie?
Thus it devolves into a battle over scraps as each individual attempts to claw their way to perceived "fairness". It isn't the patriarchy, it is our own foolhardy selfishness. We battle an imaginary foe.
The solution to the problem is of course to abandon the battle against "The Patriarchy" and face the true foe - our own selfish natures.
Change the relationship perspective from contract to a covenant. From conflict to cooperation, From transaction to service
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
(Ephesians 5)
There is a funny thing about this - when two people relate to each other through the lens of service - of focusing on what they can do to lift, help, support and strengthen the other, instead of worrying about if they are getting their 'fair' share, the available resources seem to multiply, the so-called 'patriarchy' vanishes. Together they are more than the sum of their parts, together they are indomitable. Together they conquer, and rise to greater heights.
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