My long thread on patriarchal power, the monster that has awakened with a particular vengeance since a black man has dared to become the president of the United States and a white woman was popular enough to be the next. /Thread #cdnpoli #Patriarchy #USA #Brexit
White patriarchs can only cling to absolute power by excising democracy and installing autocracy and Fascism. We are seeing the rise of a real nationalism movement today - a backlash against human progress that exposes the corrupt power propping white men.
What is white patriarchy? 👇🏼
White Patriarchy is an heirarchal power system of white male dominance. It privileges white males above all “The Others”. Especially straights but not excluding gay white males.
Let’s clarify what is meant by The Others. The Others are all people who are not white males. Hillary was an Other. Obama was an Other. Immigrants (brown/black), all brown/black & women are Others.
The Others exclude all white males no matter how disadvantaged or poor some of them are. A poor white male is still more privileged than a poor black one. A white male will get more chances, more benefit of the doubt than a black male. The starting line for the white is ahead.
Some (few) males are allies of The Others (let’s call them “The Allies”). They are not trusted and they’re despised by the Patriarchs. They are seen as the betrayers and the ones who will expose the manipulations of white male power. Allies destabilize Patriarchal power.
Since Allies are privileged by Patriarchy, they are not fully trusted by The Others either and are highly scrutinized. Allies are deeply flawed bc they will always benefit from simply being white males. Allies are still feared by The Others.
Trudeau is an Ally - a particularly dangerous one to the Patriarchs because he holds one of the highest levels of power. There are so few Allies at that level that The Others are hopeful but suspicious so their support of Allies is weak.
Patriarchs exploit the Ally’s tenuous support by attacking his masculinity and humiliation. They will cast him as feminine and weak or embarrassing in order to bring him down. By doing this, Patriarchs and Hangers-on show how they view women as lesser - as the worst insult
All white men are advantaged by Patriarchy no matter how poor they are or feel. Many men do not see themselves as having power. They see themselves as victims but never blame Patriarchy. They always blame The Others. I call these men “The Bros”.
The Bros are the foot soldier contingent of Patriarchy.
Then there are the “Hangers-on” - members of The Others who are recruited as defenders of patriarchal power. The Tomis, Goldys, Diamonds & Silks, the Ben Carsons, Ingrahams, Clarence Thomases, etc. + there are countless everyday Hangers-on who don’t get paid.
Unpaid Hangers-on are the Trumpettes, privileged white women and Others who defend Patriarchy in exchange for conditional status bestowed on them. Their only real power comes from white men. To defy such power has consequences ex. Christine Ford, domestic violence, threats.
Patriarchs use their wealth and power to activate The Bros. and employ Hangers-on.
How come we are seeing such a rise in the assertion of white male power?
The answer is that white males at the very top of the pyramid who own most wealth in the world, own the most powerful corporations incl media, run world finances & run most powerful nations, detect an acceleration of discontent by The Others who will consolidate against them.
How does Patriarchy consolidate power and weaponize it against The Others? By co-opting The Bros and the hangers-on.
For Bros, Patriarchs use fear of The Others. They appeal to their insecurities by directing blame against Others and demonizing women and minorities with sexist, racist, homophobic tropes. They encourage feelings among Bros of victimization, persecution. Bros feel under threat.
Then the Bros feel that the world is becoming less fair to them. They see themselves as righteous Jesus figures.
The plutocratic white men are the most powerful in the world and have been for a long time. They created systems to own the power of corporations, financial institutions, media, social networks, technology and governments who have written the rules in their favour.
And they exist in a very small circle of white men at the top who know each other or know of each other. Each would return any phine call of another. They collaborate and share a power interest. They are pretty well aligned on the front of common white male power.
Patriarchal power uses religion to give their cause moral authority, to create a god in their own image. Christianity, above all other religions consolidates that power. It entrenches a belief in a god-given right to male power.
Using their unfettered command of social media and technology and their corporate consolidation of local and national media, they have found a predominant home in conservatism to control the most powerful nations on earth.
Conservatism is today weaponized to be a Trojan horse threat against democracy. And the reason is because democracy is a system that values equality and does not, in a pure form, privilege any citizen over another. It empowers citizens. It’s a threat to white male power.
“If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.”
― David Frum, Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic
― David Frum, Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic
History has a habit of repeating itself and so here we are again. Everyday people are divided by Patriarchs and weaponized against each other to obscure what’s really happening to them. To hide that it’s the system of patriarchy that is responsible for citizens’ suffering. /end
