Mary Edwards Walker said the exact same thing. “You men are not our protectors… If you were, who would there be to protect us from?”🔥
If infinite power and protection can only come WITH others and finite, illusory power, over others—it makes sense that our culture’s ubiquitous domination brainwashing has kept men feeling threatened by women’s and marginalized people’s power for thousands of years.
Seems pretty simple, actually. Historically, female bodies have had the power to grow, protect, and feed THE most vulnerable other bodies (babies). Whether we actually birth children or not, our evolutionary adaptions to prioritize the needs of the collective and to be resilient to pain and abuse in order to effectively protect both ourselves and others more effectively in the future is so fucking upsetting to people under domination brainwashing’s lies that they often have no conscious idea why they hate us so much for our true power WITH.
Thank you using your true power for the good of all women and marginalized people, Celeste.
I think you would really enjoy a book called Shakespeare’s Sisters by Ramie Targoff, which is about four English (in one case Anglo-Venetian) women-Aemilia Lanyer, Mary Sidney, Elizabeth Cary and Anne Clifford-who were writing significant and serious works of poetry, history, drama and religious writings at roughly the same time as Shakespeare but whose works were largely forgotten over the centuries that followed.
Wow. Blown away like usual Celeste. You and Amie are doing the lord’s work ☺️ can’t wait to watch and see more. I feel so ignorant about these issues and this was enlightening and so poignant. I just want to shout it from the rooftops for women to claim their power. But instead, I heal inwardly first and then I trust myself more. I speak up more. I own my dignity and join you in realizing maybe I’m not crazy either. It IS the system. And I love the light you shine on its underbelly! Bravo!!
I desperately want to make sure my young daughters know their history. Currently that looks like browsing the children's non fiction section of the library and picking up literally any book about women. Also we have several Bravery magazines, I was so sad that the publication didn't last long!
And..... this is where homophobia works against us. The accusations that women fighting for equality are lesbians (and they often are) are enough to make straight women go silent.
Yes, I have felt this over and over again. One of my main reading goals is to read women (and BIOPIC) and it ends up being this maze of amazing women, one women writer leading to another and I’m always stunned at what has already been said and done and I had no clue. How To Suppress Women’s Writing by Joanna Russ is an interesting read about all the ways society can erase women. Thanks for the great read!
Great set of articles! I'm newish here but have enjoyed Amy's videos on the Creation of Patriarchy, and have just read it myself (had been on my to-read list for a while).
I believe an unacknowledged part of the puzzle is that women get so bogged down in the mundane day-to-day domestic tasks (that men feel entitled to have a woman do and find beneath them) that we do not have the privilege of focus allowed men (focus is tauted so much in male self-help/productivity gurus like Cal Newport; clearly this is not possible if caring for a newborn, for instance). Women in the workplace are not competing with just men, but men with WIVES who facilitate their lives. This is why there is the rise of the Tradwife - it was proven we can't have it all because it's exhausing, because men did not step up as they should have in the domestic sphere to allow women to flourish outside the home. Why would they, it would take away from their leisure, focus, purpose, etc.
Gerda Lerner noted this in the last chapter of CoP and several times in the book refers to Simone de Beuvoir's notion of immanence vs transdendance (nature vs culture, ascribed to female vs male). This point was also made by Judith Sargent Murray in her 1790 essay "On the Equality of the Sexes On the Equality of the Sexes On the Equality of the Sexes" (I heard about that on Amy's podcast). Talk about re-inventing the wheel! Seems to me this is the big cause of economist Claudia Goldin's finding that it is not so much a wage gap of men and women in the workplace, but mothers vs. others.
Oh wow what a phenomenal comment Meghan! Such important thoughts here about motherhood, Cal Newport and more ideas being reinvented. Thank you so much for sharing this!
You're so welcome! So glad to have found a place exploring patriarchy's tentacles into so many aspects of life, looking forward to diving into more topics you've covered!
Thank you for writing this. I was aware of this problem and have referenced it in my own writing (fiction). But I did not understand its overwhelming scope until right this minute. How do we fix this?
Mary Edwards Walker said the exact same thing. “You men are not our protectors… If you were, who would there be to protect us from?”🔥
If infinite power and protection can only come WITH others and finite, illusory power, over others—it makes sense that our culture’s ubiquitous domination brainwashing has kept men feeling threatened by women’s and marginalized people’s power for thousands of years.
Seems pretty simple, actually. Historically, female bodies have had the power to grow, protect, and feed THE most vulnerable other bodies (babies). Whether we actually birth children or not, our evolutionary adaptions to prioritize the needs of the collective and to be resilient to pain and abuse in order to effectively protect both ourselves and others more effectively in the future is so fucking upsetting to people under domination brainwashing’s lies that they often have no conscious idea why they hate us so much for our true power WITH.
Thank you using your true power for the good of all women and marginalized people, Celeste.
Indeed, patriarchy is a protection racket.
Studying history is a political act. Writing history is revolutionary
I keep saying that women are the creators of civilization, while men seem to just want to tear it down. We need better PR!
I think you would really enjoy a book called Shakespeare’s Sisters by Ramie Targoff, which is about four English (in one case Anglo-Venetian) women-Aemilia Lanyer, Mary Sidney, Elizabeth Cary and Anne Clifford-who were writing significant and serious works of poetry, history, drama and religious writings at roughly the same time as Shakespeare but whose works were largely forgotten over the centuries that followed.
Wow. Blown away like usual Celeste. You and Amie are doing the lord’s work ☺️ can’t wait to watch and see more. I feel so ignorant about these issues and this was enlightening and so poignant. I just want to shout it from the rooftops for women to claim their power. But instead, I heal inwardly first and then I trust myself more. I speak up more. I own my dignity and join you in realizing maybe I’m not crazy either. It IS the system. And I love the light you shine on its underbelly! Bravo!!
This was an incredible write up, Celeste. Thank you for being part of the solution.
Yes she is! I'm so grateful
Indeed, patriarchy is literally the oldest protection racket, pyramid scheme, and Ponzi scheme. As is the rest of the greater kyriarchy as well.
“I have never seen a park or an elementary school named for a feminist from that time”
I just wanted to add that we have an elementary school on the central coast named for Dolores Huerta.
Great column I really enjoyed part 1. Thanks for the great work.
I desperately want to make sure my young daughters know their history. Currently that looks like browsing the children's non fiction section of the library and picking up literally any book about women. Also we have several Bravery magazines, I was so sad that the publication didn't last long!
And..... this is where homophobia works against us. The accusations that women fighting for equality are lesbians (and they often are) are enough to make straight women go silent.
I’ve been waiting all week for this 2nd part. Thank you. So educational and lit a fire for me to study more. Thank you for your work! 🔥
Thank you for this Celeste! Awesome!
Yes, I have felt this over and over again. One of my main reading goals is to read women (and BIOPIC) and it ends up being this maze of amazing women, one women writer leading to another and I’m always stunned at what has already been said and done and I had no clue. How To Suppress Women’s Writing by Joanna Russ is an interesting read about all the ways society can erase women. Thanks for the great read!
Great set of articles! I'm newish here but have enjoyed Amy's videos on the Creation of Patriarchy, and have just read it myself (had been on my to-read list for a while).
I believe an unacknowledged part of the puzzle is that women get so bogged down in the mundane day-to-day domestic tasks (that men feel entitled to have a woman do and find beneath them) that we do not have the privilege of focus allowed men (focus is tauted so much in male self-help/productivity gurus like Cal Newport; clearly this is not possible if caring for a newborn, for instance). Women in the workplace are not competing with just men, but men with WIVES who facilitate their lives. This is why there is the rise of the Tradwife - it was proven we can't have it all because it's exhausing, because men did not step up as they should have in the domestic sphere to allow women to flourish outside the home. Why would they, it would take away from their leisure, focus, purpose, etc.
Gerda Lerner noted this in the last chapter of CoP and several times in the book refers to Simone de Beuvoir's notion of immanence vs transdendance (nature vs culture, ascribed to female vs male). This point was also made by Judith Sargent Murray in her 1790 essay "On the Equality of the Sexes On the Equality of the Sexes On the Equality of the Sexes" (I heard about that on Amy's podcast). Talk about re-inventing the wheel! Seems to me this is the big cause of economist Claudia Goldin's finding that it is not so much a wage gap of men and women in the workplace, but mothers vs. others.
Oh wow what a phenomenal comment Meghan! Such important thoughts here about motherhood, Cal Newport and more ideas being reinvented. Thank you so much for sharing this!
You're so welcome! So glad to have found a place exploring patriarchy's tentacles into so many aspects of life, looking forward to diving into more topics you've covered!
Thank you for writing this. I was aware of this problem and have referenced it in my own writing (fiction). But I did not understand its overwhelming scope until right this minute. How do we fix this?
This is amazing! The best thing I have read this month. Thank you so much for putting this down in just the way you did.