Patriarchy Thrives Because It Incentivizes Spiritually Stunted Men.
The Biological and Spiritual Roots of Male Domination.
I recently came across a note by one of my subscribers which said the following:
A couple of years ago I was listening to a podcast and an older man said something along the lines of, “I think sexism happens because women can do everything men can do plus one more thing, so men want to limit women to doing only that one thing and take everything else for themselves,” and it has stuck with me ever since.
The more I’ve watched the gender dynamics in our culture since then, the more I see his point. I’ve now read books written by great feminists about it. Patriarchy is all one giant cope for this existential anxiety.
Then, another woman commented underneath:
The reason sexism happens is because it can. All power ultimately stems from violent force, men have more violent force than women, and can both individually and collectively enforce their will onto women. The state as the supreme monopolist on violence suppresses this to an extent, but ultimately violent power sits with men, as the only defence against the threat of male violence is the threat of male violence.
Patriarchy is the result of women not having power, and it will remain around until women get power.
That is when I chimed in and asked:
So, how do women get power if we will never have more violent force than men due to our biology of being physically weaker?
She said that she did not have an answer to this. At first, I thought I didn’t, either.
But strangely enough, the more I thought about it…I did.
Nature has not designed us to be “equal” to each other. The Lion hunts the Gazelle; The Spider hunts the Mosquito. Nature is not always calm, soft, or kumbaya; it is dynamic, and it can be brutal.
Most of the violence throughout our ecosystem is for the purpose of survival, and it is done in a way which naturally sustains and balances the environment. Violence is not inherently wrong—it is about the intention behind it, and the holistic result.
The difference with human beings is that we use violence and power in ways which create holistic imbalance throughout the environment, including within ourselves. These systems of power have been created and enforced by men who historically seized power, and they are reinforced by those who live under their system.
The reasoning behind why male abuse of power remains such a uniquely pervasive force on our planet…is at the heart of the very answer as to how it can stop.
The reality is that women will never effectively seize power from men. Even as women have gained more access to the tools men have created—we are still enfolding ourselves into an infrastructure that was not designed to benefit us. The whole emphasis on “equality” is like a tiny bandaid on a large gaping wound.
Our empowerment will ultimately have to come from a much deeper place that is far more challenging to implement than any structural or legal change.