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Title: Patriarchy Author: Workers Solidarity Movement Date: July 2017 Language: en Topics: position paper, patriarchy Source: Retrieved on 15th October 2021 from http://www.wsm.ie/c/patriarchy Notes: Position paper on Patriarchy as collectively agreed by the July 2017 National Conference. Note this sits underneath the Anarchism, Oppression, & Exploitation position paper.
entire oppressive gender system, herein called ‘Patriarchy’ but which
might be more technically referred to as ‘Cis-Hetero-Patriarchy’ or
‘Cis-Heterosexual-Male Supremacy’.
how it has developed, and what freedom beyond patriarchy would mean.
our lives in the most private, invasive, insidious, and extraordinary
ways. That control is exerted throughout society at both the lowest
informal personal level, through people we meet in our ordinary daily
lives, and at the highest formal political level, through the state,
capitalism, and religious institutions.
together in this single oppressive gender system.
patriarchy with an equal and free society. The WSM is a fundamentally
feminist organisation.
called a ‘sex’ at birth.
and ‘female’. There is one marginalised category: ‘intersex’.
cases if the child has a penis, ‘he’ is called ‘male’. If they have a
vagina, ‘she’ is called ‘female’. Some intersex children have genitalia
that deviate from the norm, both a penis and a vagina for example, but
not limited to this. The doctor, or other, decides whether they will be
called ‘male’ or ‘female’.
the strong relationship between work and physical strength made gender
categorisation a fundamental aspect of all societies. Quite often there
were more than 2 genders but always most people were clearly categorised
as being either men or women and this often had a huge impact on what
role in society they could play. In particular in the aftermath of the
agricultural revolution class systems developed where many legal aspects
from inheritance to the degree of personal independence allowed were
strongly tied to assigned gender — very often women were literally made
the property of men. In less authoritarian societies there were routes
where people could escape their gender assignment but that was seldom
easy. In other societies attempts to do so resulted in violence and
perhaps death.
fertility through a wide variety of technologies — childbirth can be a
choice. It is also one where industrialisation and automation means
physical strength is increasingly irrelevant for labour. We have however
inherited that older system which sees gender, and in particular a
binary gender distinction, as something completely fundamental in a way
that hair colour or height is not viewed.
there is nothing scientific in insisting that this difference — which is
seldom actually visible — should define every aspect of our lives from
cradle to grave. Blue toys for boys and pink toys for girls is not
science, neither is the idea that toys can only come in one of two
colours.
in the attempts to impose a rigid gender division by the old
institutions, in particular the catholic church.
for freedom has opened up a space in many societies where a broad revolt
against that rigid binary gender segregation has exploded. Increasing
numbers are openly rejecting the gender they were assigned at birth. But
also even an overwhelming majority of those assigned female at birth
would deny that assignment should have any influence on where and how
they can work, socialise, etc. From the perspective of life
determination the broad revolt against the gender binary is something
that already involves the majority.
Therefore it is necessary to tie the struggle against patriarchy to the
struggle against capital and state.
and sexuality, as we ultimately have more in common than not. However,
it is vital not to assume that just because we are all working class
that we are automatically equal.
anatomy and other personal traits, the aim is to eliminate the coercion
behind gender and not necessarily to entirely eliminate the idea of
gender itself. That is to say a society liberated from patriarchy is one
where gender, including sexual orientation, is freely expressed and
doesn’t carry any privileges or penalties. However, at that point gender
would likely fade into obscurity.
of the same oppressive gender system, we strive to build a movement
where women and queers join in a common struggle for freedom from
patriarchy.