You gave that dude way more of your time than he is worth, but you did a great job of destroying all of his arguments. Too bad he is apparently too illiterate to read a well-argued piece and understand it, much less correct his incorrect historical beliefs. I wonder why anyone who has any self-respect would accuse you of having too much ego, just because you write confidently about things that you know well. Perhaps such a person is secretly ashamed of himself?
Many history books play fast and loose with the historical record, choosing what gets in the record. “History is written by the side that won.” A very old saying. The patriarchy has had 5k years. Those are his history books. We looked for other sides. He never bothered.
Let’s change the world to matriarchy, shall we? I think that we would all be happier and kinder. I have thought we should since the 70s. I suspect the next decade will give us a chance to start. (Just for the record, I am a male old enough to remember when women could finally get credit in their own name.)
True equality would be better, and not fostering the patriarchal ideas of “men must lead.” Whoever is better at doing said job, should be the one to do it. All leadership councils would be by the mixed experienced persons and backgrounds. No more nepo-baby crap, letting the rich amass too much wealth and power is the reason we got here. Organized religion should be dissected from public life. All offspring should be educated to be critical thinkers, and to be a productive member of society.
You might want to explore how most matriarchal societies functioned. It is not women replacing men in a similar system. It is more like what you are describing. Govt for the children, which requires stewardship of yhe earth, wise councilors. No nepotism without earning the position, by common consent/agreement. Or run along semi similar lines.
Oh, also matriarchal lineages, so men have no reason to build wealth for their heirs to inherit. Not sure how to prevent men from doing paternity tests though. That is currently the only way to prove paternity, as men will not control and secure private access to females.
I know my history, the Celtic Matriarchal societies in the (now) UK were historically legendary. Boudicca was a legendary warrior against the invading Romans. Unfortunately, she lost. Eventually the Roman Empire fell, as all empires do, and we ended up in the dark ages, ignorance ruled, much knowledge was lost. Then religion took over and all the patriarchal crap that goes with it thanks to the twisting of the simple message to love one another, and ones self.
My point is, there is a huge misunderstanding around Matriarchy, and it has been mythologized so as to mean different things to different people. We are better to adopt a system of equality and actual merit and call it something else, because Matriarchy was practiced in different forms in different cultures.
Valid points. By the time Boudicca was around, the already entrenched patriarchy was what she was fighting. I would argue for more ancient forms, the actually more tribal kind, where being kicked out of the tribe (fore runner of shunning) was often a death sentence. I was thinking more along the lines of many indigenous ancestral ways. It needs work. But I think not lettting men stockpile private wealth to ridiculous amounts which harms the collective whole is a good start. Most women not caught up in the “who is richer” game will feed the hungry, will somehow stretch that meal for 5 to enough to feed 8. Villagers can learn from helping to cook a communal “stone soup” when no one by themselves has enough. Just don’t let on that is what they are learning. Grow community without making it only concerned with their own tribal members. Form (very )loose confederations for trade, protection, etc.
They dismiss the facts when they’re not in their favour. Someone asked me why women want to work and I explained the reasons. He dismissed it as ‘I can’t speak to those facts because I’m not a woman’. What? They cannot admit when they’re wrong or when a woman has expertise over them. Audacity seemingly trumps professional experience.
This reminded me of this quote, attributed to William Golding:
“I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men. They are far superior and always have been. Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she will give you a baby. If you give her a house, she will give you a home. If you give her groceries, she will give you a meal. If you give her a smile she will give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit!"
Right wing women do tend to spout the same false narratives as the men. Neither of them deviate from the script delivered from on high by self-important and ignorant false authorities.
First, I love that you didn't edit his stupid....second, I'm ashamed to admit that I spent a significant portion of my life not understanding or appreciating the labor you so brilliantly outlined..I was one of the ones that didn't understand what one would do with the whole day while the kids were in school....it is amazing how much patriarchy is internalized by all of us.
In the last 250 years the US has been unable to elect a FE'MALE' President! Yet Women are built for Leadership! I did a dive into publications on Women in Leadership positions here are the Top 30!
Introduction to the Female Brain. Link to the Power Point: The benefits of Women in Leadership! Turns out Women's Brains process information faster than Mens. We have allowed the PATRIARCHY to reign for way to long. It's time to evolve to the MATRIARCHY.
I'd like to also address the fact that men seem to spend inordinate amounts of time fixated on sex. Is this the reason why power, dominance, destroying people, and blowing things up seems to be the way men govern? It needs to stop.
My husband is a retired infantryman. Once we were talking about female generals (I probably did most of the talking because I was indignant). He was making the point that most general officer positions, like the Joint Chiefs, require combat experience and (at that time) women weren't allowed in the infantry or armor branches. My point was that at the general officer level, most decisions are strategic, meaning logistical and long-term, not tactical (on the ground fighting, in small units). Women are all over the logistical and upper echelons of the Army - brigade and division levels - so they're just as experienced as men and would do general officer-level jobs just as well. He didn't have a good reply to that.
Powerful piece Meredith. Truth spoken carries power, and you brought it here. Ignorance does not carry any substance. And those that spout it, well then you know it's about something else. Is it pure hatred, envy, obsession with power, fear of women's creative force? Feels like all of the above, with a bit of arrogance on the side.
Right on, Professor Meredith!!! Thank you for this thorough thorough explication of the Patriarchy. ~ Sally (co-author of The Overfunctioning Woman's Handbook: Uncommon Sense to Deal With Impossible Jobs and Impossible People
Basically, women have been holding the civilization together while men have been dick-waving, fighting, and killing each other. Oh, and bragging about how good they are at it.
Although the man you mention will never ever have the capacity to understand a word you write, it serves as an education for the rest of us who do get it. A reminder of how far we've come thanks to those before us.
Obtuse men like that aren't born that way. They were made by the same system that erases and diminishes our worth. They also know instinctively that questioning this system threatens their world and identity. All of which hinges on entitled labour: needed but unrewarded.
Also enjoyed the juxtaposition of his not only inability to spell, but inability to use the tools that have been invented to make spelling easy, against your eloquence detailing not only domestic labour, but the tools invented and used daily to make the labour easier.
Chef’s kiss darlin’. He was the perfect foil for your points. Generous of him. 😉
I can’t read this! My blood pressure will skyrocket.
Go to BillThePatriarchy.com. Add it ALL up! Start by paying yourself lifeguard wages for every minute your kid is home.
You know what a lot of homeschool moms put on our social media pages?
CEO, CFO, CAO, Founder, Headmistress!
Running a household is like running a business you never get to go home from!
Even those supposed “trophy wife” moms with abled kids work for 3 hours in the morning to get their kids ready for school and then another 6 hours after their kids get home until bedtime!
That’s a NINE HOUR DAY! Without even talking about running errands or making dentist appointments! And on top of that we have night duty and weekend duty!
Now add in kids with medical problems! I know families who fostered or adopted multiple “special needs” kids who could not attend school. These “lazy homemakers” RARELY get respite!
These women are EXPERTS in systems navigation, project management, and organizational efficiency, but because they’re not paid, it’s not “work”? Fuck that!
America runs on the unpaid labor of women.
So FUCK MEN WHO BLOW OFF HOMEMAKING!
Those are the nasty little weenies who come home, play video games, watch TV, and surf the Best Buy website while their wife WORKS and their small children shiver and cry in the bathroom because they’re too tired to dry themselves off. These are the men who ignore all that but have the GALL to whine for sex!
Then they become bitter divorced dads who “didn’t see it coming.” 😤
Thanks for the compliment. Feel free to share my words with someone who can run for office. I cannot. I am 1) disabled and 2) an atheist with a religious family who regularly try to destroy me with their smear campaigns. Think of Meghan Markle’s family smearing her in the tabloids, but 10x worse, bc my family have access to WASP social networks….
You gave that dude way more of your time than he is worth, but you did a great job of destroying all of his arguments. Too bad he is apparently too illiterate to read a well-argued piece and understand it, much less correct his incorrect historical beliefs. I wonder why anyone who has any self-respect would accuse you of having too much ego, just because you write confidently about things that you know well. Perhaps such a person is secretly ashamed of himself?
He must have never read a history book or saw an actual documentary, because his ignorance is astounding!
The misspellings were hilarious and I am so glad I left them intact.
Many history books play fast and loose with the historical record, choosing what gets in the record. “History is written by the side that won.” A very old saying. The patriarchy has had 5k years. Those are his history books. We looked for other sides. He never bothered.
Let’s change the world to matriarchy, shall we? I think that we would all be happier and kinder. I have thought we should since the 70s. I suspect the next decade will give us a chance to start. (Just for the record, I am a male old enough to remember when women could finally get credit in their own name.)
True equality would be better, and not fostering the patriarchal ideas of “men must lead.” Whoever is better at doing said job, should be the one to do it. All leadership councils would be by the mixed experienced persons and backgrounds. No more nepo-baby crap, letting the rich amass too much wealth and power is the reason we got here. Organized religion should be dissected from public life. All offspring should be educated to be critical thinkers, and to be a productive member of society.
You might want to explore how most matriarchal societies functioned. It is not women replacing men in a similar system. It is more like what you are describing. Govt for the children, which requires stewardship of yhe earth, wise councilors. No nepotism without earning the position, by common consent/agreement. Or run along semi similar lines.
Oh, also matriarchal lineages, so men have no reason to build wealth for their heirs to inherit. Not sure how to prevent men from doing paternity tests though. That is currently the only way to prove paternity, as men will not control and secure private access to females.
I know my history, the Celtic Matriarchal societies in the (now) UK were historically legendary. Boudicca was a legendary warrior against the invading Romans. Unfortunately, she lost. Eventually the Roman Empire fell, as all empires do, and we ended up in the dark ages, ignorance ruled, much knowledge was lost. Then religion took over and all the patriarchal crap that goes with it thanks to the twisting of the simple message to love one another, and ones self.
My point is, there is a huge misunderstanding around Matriarchy, and it has been mythologized so as to mean different things to different people. We are better to adopt a system of equality and actual merit and call it something else, because Matriarchy was practiced in different forms in different cultures.
Valid points. By the time Boudicca was around, the already entrenched patriarchy was what she was fighting. I would argue for more ancient forms, the actually more tribal kind, where being kicked out of the tribe (fore runner of shunning) was often a death sentence. I was thinking more along the lines of many indigenous ancestral ways. It needs work. But I think not lettting men stockpile private wealth to ridiculous amounts which harms the collective whole is a good start. Most women not caught up in the “who is richer” game will feed the hungry, will somehow stretch that meal for 5 to enough to feed 8. Villagers can learn from helping to cook a communal “stone soup” when no one by themselves has enough. Just don’t let on that is what they are learning. Grow community without making it only concerned with their own tribal members. Form (very )loose confederations for trade, protection, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐💯
Agree! Wow his ignorance is off the charts. Like most patriarchal men.
They dismiss the facts when they’re not in their favour. Someone asked me why women want to work and I explained the reasons. He dismissed it as ‘I can’t speak to those facts because I’m not a woman’. What? They cannot admit when they’re wrong or when a woman has expertise over them. Audacity seemingly trumps professional experience.
Trying to nail soup to the wall. That's a turn of phrase I'm keeping in my back pocket for handy reference.
I think I might have picked that saying up from my mom, hah!
This reminded me of this quote, attributed to William Golding:
“I think women are foolish to pretend they are equal to men. They are far superior and always have been. Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she will give you a baby. If you give her a house, she will give you a home. If you give her groceries, she will give you a meal. If you give her a smile she will give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit!"
Sadly as good as that quote it, I hate William Golding intensely.
https://perspectivesonpopculture.substack.com/p/dystopian-fiction-and-hobbesian-humanity-thomas-hobbes-rick-grimes-and-william-golding-walk-into-a-bar
An apt description of trying to converse with these knuckleheads
I loved the phrase, "creating a whole moral universe based on a false premise."
That phrase also applies to the forced birth movement.
True.
Right wing women do tend to spout the same false narratives as the men. Neither of them deviate from the script delivered from on high by self-important and ignorant false authorities.
Thank you for maintaining a coherent history and correcting the "Archie Bunker" take on women and civilization.
First, I love that you didn't edit his stupid....second, I'm ashamed to admit that I spent a significant portion of my life not understanding or appreciating the labor you so brilliantly outlined..I was one of the ones that didn't understand what one would do with the whole day while the kids were in school....it is amazing how much patriarchy is internalized by all of us.
Absolutely Wonderful Post!
In the last 250 years the US has been unable to elect a FE'MALE' President! Yet Women are built for Leadership! I did a dive into publications on Women in Leadership positions here are the Top 30!
Introduction to the Female Brain. Link to the Power Point: The benefits of Women in Leadership! Turns out Women's Brains process information faster than Mens. We have allowed the PATRIARCHY to reign for way to long. It's time to evolve to the MATRIARCHY.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UNYelE1APtXtbR69Osp9kOYm-Y5MQyx3/view?usp=sharing
I'd like to also address the fact that men seem to spend inordinate amounts of time fixated on sex. Is this the reason why power, dominance, destroying people, and blowing things up seems to be the way men govern? It needs to stop.
My husband is a retired infantryman. Once we were talking about female generals (I probably did most of the talking because I was indignant). He was making the point that most general officer positions, like the Joint Chiefs, require combat experience and (at that time) women weren't allowed in the infantry or armor branches. My point was that at the general officer level, most decisions are strategic, meaning logistical and long-term, not tactical (on the ground fighting, in small units). Women are all over the logistical and upper echelons of the Army - brigade and division levels - so they're just as experienced as men and would do general officer-level jobs just as well. He didn't have a good reply to that.
Powerful piece Meredith. Truth spoken carries power, and you brought it here. Ignorance does not carry any substance. And those that spout it, well then you know it's about something else. Is it pure hatred, envy, obsession with power, fear of women's creative force? Feels like all of the above, with a bit of arrogance on the side.
Right on, Professor Meredith!!! Thank you for this thorough thorough explication of the Patriarchy. ~ Sally (co-author of The Overfunctioning Woman's Handbook: Uncommon Sense to Deal With Impossible Jobs and Impossible People
Excellent! Thank you, from an old "broad."
Basically, women have been holding the civilization together while men have been dick-waving, fighting, and killing each other. Oh, and bragging about how good they are at it.
Although the man you mention will never ever have the capacity to understand a word you write, it serves as an education for the rest of us who do get it. A reminder of how far we've come thanks to those before us.
Obtuse men like that aren't born that way. They were made by the same system that erases and diminishes our worth. They also know instinctively that questioning this system threatens their world and identity. All of which hinges on entitled labour: needed but unrewarded.
Keep fighting. Keep writing.
Excellent.
Also enjoyed the juxtaposition of his not only inability to spell, but inability to use the tools that have been invented to make spelling easy, against your eloquence detailing not only domestic labour, but the tools invented and used daily to make the labour easier.
Chef’s kiss darlin’. He was the perfect foil for your points. Generous of him. 😉
I can’t read this! My blood pressure will skyrocket.
Go to BillThePatriarchy.com. Add it ALL up! Start by paying yourself lifeguard wages for every minute your kid is home.
You know what a lot of homeschool moms put on our social media pages?
CEO, CFO, CAO, Founder, Headmistress!
Running a household is like running a business you never get to go home from!
Even those supposed “trophy wife” moms with abled kids work for 3 hours in the morning to get their kids ready for school and then another 6 hours after their kids get home until bedtime!
That’s a NINE HOUR DAY! Without even talking about running errands or making dentist appointments! And on top of that we have night duty and weekend duty!
Now add in kids with medical problems! I know families who fostered or adopted multiple “special needs” kids who could not attend school. These “lazy homemakers” RARELY get respite!
These women are EXPERTS in systems navigation, project management, and organizational efficiency, but because they’re not paid, it’s not “work”? Fuck that!
America runs on the unpaid labor of women.
So FUCK MEN WHO BLOW OFF HOMEMAKING!
Those are the nasty little weenies who come home, play video games, watch TV, and surf the Best Buy website while their wife WORKS and their small children shiver and cry in the bathroom because they’re too tired to dry themselves off. These are the men who ignore all that but have the GALL to whine for sex!
Then they become bitter divorced dads who “didn’t see it coming.” 😤
Absolutely a incredible response! Run for office!
Thanks for the compliment. Feel free to share my words with someone who can run for office. I cannot. I am 1) disabled and 2) an atheist with a religious family who regularly try to destroy me with their smear campaigns. Think of Meghan Markle’s family smearing her in the tabloids, but 10x worse, bc my family have access to WASP social networks….
Can't quite believe he didn't finish with "We Hunted The Mammoth".