Thread by @bazzapower

[THREAD] Let's write a thread on patriarchy and mental health. Any form of oppression will have long lasting mental health impacts. Patriarchy has lasted for so long with many generations sharing and passing that trauma. Let's dive a little deeper into what it can entail.

Patriarchy is a form of oppression that has infiltrated every institution and social norm from religion, government, education to family. As with most forms of oppressions, patriarchy is comfortable blaming women for situations they cannot control, rather than fixing the system.

Within families, patriarchy is very much alive. Many if not most families raise their children differently based on whether they are boys or girls. Girls tend to be limited in what their parents allow, from going out, to interacting with boys, or even discouraged from science.

These dynamics play out so early that young girls realize that something is wrong, even if can't fully understand the ramifications yet. They can see how their own brothers or boy peers at school are treated versus how they are treated and create a conflict within themselves.

While we are young, parents are the main form of socialization and the people we learn the world and environment from. Those early years are crucial for the development of our mental health. When girls are treated differently, it affects their mental health early on.

Self-esteem suffers greatly and paves the way for self-esteem and self-efficacy to be greatly impacted into their adult life, even while they try to unlearn those ingrained behaviours taught by parents. Furthermore, childhood is a time of possibilities and exploration.

But for many girls, their parents limit them on what they can do. They tell them early in their childhood that their job is to get married and have kids. Their creativity and spark may get stopped because they cannot explore that environment themselves. It was chosen for them.

Furthermore, as with any form of oppression, the truth may not be believed even when there is evidence. Their word carries less weight than that of their brothers or other men in the family. Even when girls or women approach their parents after an assault, they are not believed.

The system was made to defend boys whether it is within families or the justice system. Getting justice is practically impossible. This is not just within our culture. Even in Canada for example, only 11% of sexual assaults result in conviction, the lowest in any category.

Because of these deep rooted inequalities that start from birth, mental health will be impacted in a great way. By limiting possibilities of young girls, treating them differently from their brothers, etc...will result in many mental health issues.

The biggest is internalizing that oppression. That results in helplessness and hopelessness that creates an intense form of depression. They don't resist anything because they may realize it is pointless. That combination can be very dangerous because it can lead to suicide.

Trauma from going through assaults and not being believed or supported by anyone in the family or system at large. They are forced to repress those emotions, and without externalizing leads to an explosion of those emotions later in life.

Anxiety is also a big one. Navigating a system that was not made for them and where their safety is threatened at all times will certainly lead to a lot of anxiety because that fight or flight reflex is activated at all times, even at home where it is supposed to be safe.

These are just scratching the surface in terms of how patriarchy affects the mental health of little girls and women in their life. There is so much more. This is why we need to make mental health accessible for women for free in order to help with that internalized trauma.

We also need to remove patriarchy completely from our systems and families, allowing future generations of young girls to grow up without it, unleashing their full potential not only career wise but also their full potential in happiness.

Thank you to @ankitagaba for asking me to write about this very important thread 😊