Tuesday, March 18, 2008

For Jovial- The Seesaw Power Structure Myth

Here's why your "But what about the menzzzzzzzzzzzz!" whine don't fly.

Imagine our current power structure is a seesaw. On one side you have those with power, on the other side you have those without power. There are fewer people with power than without, so that side is always up. And what the powerful fear most is that enough of the other people will make their way over to the other side, and tip the balance in the opposite direction.

This idea can be applied to all sorts of isms- sexism, racism, classism, ageism, ableism, etc.

In regards to sexism, on one side are men, the other women. The fear from the men is that feminists want to swing the seesaw in their favor. That they want to create a matriarchal society to replace the patriarchy. If they didn't have some idea of how crappy they treat women in this scenario, then they wouldn't be so afraid of being on the receiving end of that treatment.

The same thing is true with blacks and whites, hence fear of the angry black man.

But that is not what we want. What we want is to do away with the fulcrum, the structure that keeps the seesaw seesawing. Once that fulcrum comes down, guess what? We are all on a level playing ground. That is what we want. We want the lines between groups dissolved so that what matters is the individual, not the sex or race or whatever of the person.

Now Jovial, I know you are just chomping at the bit (crossed arms comment- puh -lease! You do know that kind of stance is a position of weakness right? It's a way to mimic aggression while protecting your heart. ) for me to say "OMG- you're right, I'm a total misandrist and I have been all wrong this whole time. Not all men are part of the patriarchy."

Yeah, that's not gonna happen.

You think that by calling out sexist behavior I am stereotyping men. Nope, society stereotypes you for me. I am just telling you that it's just as stupid for you all to fall into those stereotypes as it is for us. I am also trying to tell you that what you think is a set in stone biological difference between the sexes is a giant crock of shit. But you are so busy holding on to your man-power and crossing your arms like an angry frat boy that you can't see YOU'RE FALLING INTO THOSE STUPID STEREOTYPES.

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