No, this post isn’t calling anyone a dummy any more than the series of books of the same name does. It is simply taking a similar approach to describing the fundamentals of the topic without assuming any background knowledge. I’ve seen too many people railing against discussing patriarchy, and I want to lay this out so I can ask where exactly they think the problem is.
Let’s start with definitions. “-archy” is a suffix meaning overarching rule, similar to “-cracy” but without the same implication that the structure is a formal one. So, to mix my roots abominably, a household in which the dog dictates priorities and schedules could reasonably (if unseriously) be called a “caniarchy”.
Practically, this means that we can recognize both formal and informal influence in government. For example, while the U.S. is mostly a representational democracy and the UK is a constitutional monarchy, they are both functionally oligarchies. Government service is restricted to a small percentage of the population, and the requirements of education and networking for appointed posts and mounting campaigns for elected posts mean that the monied, educated classes are highly overrepresented in government. They have a strongly disproportional influence on how each country functions.
In addition, both of these governments, and the overwhelming majority of other governments around the world are patriarchies.
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