Richard Rohr's strong take on patriarchy below is from his Radical Grace: Daily Meditations.
"Christian men of power apparently have decided that happiness is optional.
What is mandatory and necessary is that the world be divided into those who have power and those who don’t.
It makes for good order, at least for those on top, and order is more important than happiness. Our word for this addictive view of reality is “patriarchy,” which means “rule of the fathers.” It is the basis of all major relational systems in the Western World.
In this patriarchal view (1) all relationships are eventually defined in terms of superiority and inferiority and (2) the all-important need for order and control is assured by the exercise of dominative power.
Now that does not sound so bad if the status quo happens to be working in your favor.
But it has served to dehumanize and therefore de-spiritualize generations of races, nations, professions, women, sexual minorities, handicapped people, the weak and the elderly whom the powerful are able to culturally disparage and dismiss as “of no account.”
Not only are the rich and powerful able to project their own darkness onto such groups, but the groups normally accept that darkness as their true value.
The utter evil of such patriarchy is that both the oppressor and the oppressed are incapable of real spiritual growth; the powerful, by rejecting their shadow, are hopelessly inflated.
The powerless, by receiving others’ shadows, are endlessly deflated.
Both lose. That is why patriarchy is evil."
"Christian men of power apparently have decided that happiness is optional.
What is mandatory and necessary is that the world be divided into those who have power and those who don’t.
It makes for good order, at least for those on top, and order is more important than happiness. Our word for this addictive view of reality is “patriarchy,” which means “rule of the fathers.” It is the basis of all major relational systems in the Western World.
In this patriarchal view (1) all relationships are eventually defined in terms of superiority and inferiority and (2) the all-important need for order and control is assured by the exercise of dominative power.
Now that does not sound so bad if the status quo happens to be working in your favor.
But it has served to dehumanize and therefore de-spiritualize generations of races, nations, professions, women, sexual minorities, handicapped people, the weak and the elderly whom the powerful are able to culturally disparage and dismiss as “of no account.”
Not only are the rich and powerful able to project their own darkness onto such groups, but the groups normally accept that darkness as their true value.
The utter evil of such patriarchy is that both the oppressor and the oppressed are incapable of real spiritual growth; the powerful, by rejecting their shadow, are hopelessly inflated.
The powerless, by receiving others’ shadows, are endlessly deflated.
Both lose. That is why patriarchy is evil."
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