Learn Kyriarchy.
I've been feeling a bit of dissatisfaction with the catch-all term "patriacrchy" lately, but until just now I didn't know of a good alternative term to use.
Kyriarchy - a neologism coined by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza and derived from the Greek words for "lord" or "master" ( kyrios ) and "to rule or dominate" ( archein ) which seeks to redefine the analytic category of patriarchy in terms of multiplicative intersecting structures of domination...Kyriarchy is best theorized as a complex pyramidal system of intersecting multiplicative social structures of superordination and subordination, of ruling and oppression.
Patriarchy - Literally means the rule of the father and is generally understood within feminist discourses in a dualistic sense as asserting the domination of all men over all women in equal terms. The theoretical adequacy of patriarchy has been challenged because, for instance, black men to not have control over white wo/men and some women (slave/mistresses) have power over subaltern women and men (slaves).
-Glossary, Wisdom Ways, Orbis Books New York 2001
Kyriarchy seems like a much better word to use for the general system of oppression in our culture. What do you folks think?
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What's wrong with the word "Oppression", or possibly "systematic oppression" if we really want to get crazy? I don't like most catchall terms, because it just becomes more and more tempting to try to stick everything under the same label, even when what we're talking about might not really be related, or be vastly different than other topics. But then, I'm very vocal so I'm sure everyone already knows what I think.
I can thoroughly agree with this; it is something that I have been thinking about for a while now. The world really isn't black and white, and most things are interconnected. By having a blanket term, such as "patriarchy" or "kyriarchy", you are inevitably missing the finer details of what is being criticized--a system of oppression.
Agreed. I also like sex/gender system becuase it's more descriptive.
Agreed. In also like sex/gender system as it is more descriptive.
The problem is that very few people are likely to know what "Kyriarchy' means, whereas many people, even non-feminists, know what a Patriarchy is.
And to some extent, "patriarchy" has come to mean "systematic oppression."
"Patriarchy" has gained major stigma, though.
"Kyriarchy" is more specific, fits better, and isn't as automatically "OMG feminist!" as "patriarchy".
Maybe we should give it a try?
Yeah, I actually didn't use the term "patriarchy" much at all for awhile because of the stigma, but have recently been "reclaiming" it. I do think it's a good idea to find a better, more inclusive term. I'm just lazy and don't want to do the work of educating people all the time. :D
Yeah I'm kinda in that reclaiming mode too with the word because I'm thinking that a lot of very specific behaviors, customs and beliefs were originally linked to the quest to control paternity so that societies could better control who got resources and who could pass wealth along to their offspring (more commonly via the father's side) to start the cycle again.
And the tools to accomplish this haven't really changed all that much. Things like limiting reproductive choice and access; punishing and shaming women for promiscuity (but not men); imploring women to prevent their own rape and blaming victims; encouraging modesty, virginity and purity only for women; restricting women's social mobility, both culturally (through gender stereotypes) and systemically (unequal pay) so that she is tied to her partner. And I wonder how much of denying equal rights to gay and lesbian couples comes from wanting to maintain a strictly patriarchal (1 man head of house, 1 baby-daddy), family structure as the model.
Patriarchy had its hand in our racist legacy also. Patriarchal principles also governed laws against miscegenation and was responsible for the 1-drop-rule because US society at the time of slavery decided that it could not afford to have slaves inheriting wealth from white patriarchs. And those laws and accompanying taboos lasted well after slavery ended, which is testament to how deep this stuff is in our psyche.
We can call it tradition or oppression; but even though we live in a time of DNA tests and birth control, old ideas die hard as we see gains continuously being challenged and even some steps backward, e.g., prop 8.
I like having the word as a reminder of where it all comes from.
I like it.
I've noticed that people use "patriarchy" in places where the oppression has nothing to do with gender, and that's always seemed kind of sexist to me. This is a good alternative.
I like it, but I think it'll be one of those things where if you use it, you might as well not, because the amount of time you spend explaining it you could have spent just saying, "The system of oppression based on power structures."
I think the word patriarchy best describes the anthesis of feminism and the reason for its existance.
Kyriarchy? I guess it's something. How do we know it's all bad? Hierarchy can exist in a culture (maybe in every culture) without being bad, so long as there are avenues of upward mobility, etc. I don't think all authority or all hierarchy is bad. What's bad is basing power on some innate trait such as gender, "race," whoseyerdaddy, etc. that has nothing to do with capability.
I came to feminism through Christian egalitarianism. Egals tend not to use the word feminism b/c the church has so strongly associated feminism with abortion & homosexuality, which most Christian egals oppose. Some of us do openly call ourselves feminists. For me, embracing that term was like swallowing a mouthful of burning hot cider, or immersing myself in a hot tub of water. Very cleansing and satisfying, even if it hurts a little.
I am glad so many feminists are deeply concerned about social justice, racial equality, classism, and so on. This is not new! Didn't ole Abe Lincoln light-heartedly accuse Harriet Beecher Stowe of starting the Civil War with her book Uncle Tom's Cabin? Feminists have always been at the forefront of all kinds of social justice movements.
What worries me is the tendency of late to neuter feminism. Feminism is about sex and gender equality. Patriarchy is about sex and gender oppression. These are important words. They should never be discarded in favor of vague, desexualized terms b/c it is and has always been about sex.
The word kyriarchy cannot replace patriarchy any more than humanism can replace feminism. But maybe that's not what the OP was getting at. Maybe she's saying that we do not actually mean patriarchy, then we should use kyriarchy.
The problem isn't which "catch-all term" you use, it's the reliance on catch-all terms. If you're going to lump rape, racism, Battlestar Galactica, jobs programs and concern about male suicides together as one all encompassing bogeyman, you might as well call it Lucifer or Rumplestiltskin. What if instead of summing every problem up as patriarchy or something else you identified the problem and defined what was wrong?
I love Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza! I still use her concept of the discipline of "hermeneutics of suspicion," which we learned in my feminist theology class back in undergrad, to talk about what it means to approach an idea/text/cultural phenomenon asking the question, "who benefits from telling the story this way?" ("Hermeneutics" is the theological term for Biblical interpretation.)