Feminism for Everybody!

by Alexis Shotwell and Chris Dixon

We’re sorry, but we still live in a society structured by multiple forms of oppression and privilege. One of the biggies intersecting all other forms is patriarchy, or sexism. The term “patriarchy” may seem a little outdated. After all, it literally means “rule of the fathers” and many of us would say that our fathers aren’t ruling us. Still, patriarchy is a good term to keep around, because it names a form of gendered power that is still very present in all of our lives. We’re talking here about a complex web of ideas, everyday practices, social systems, and ensconced institutions that form some people into men, other people into women, punish those who refuse to conform, and give social and material power to men. “Power” here means having the ability to influence important decisions and formations – about politics, money, and relationships on a scale that runs from government all the way down to our kitchens and bedrooms.

Here at UCSB we can see lots of examples of patriarchal power at work in our daily lives. You might see sexism in your classrooms. The articles and books you read might all be written by white men, or the course might include token reference to one or two women, usually also white and straight. In lecture, you might notice that profs and TAs remember men’s names more frequently than women’s, or call on men (also usually white and middle class) more often and with more respectful attention. Sexism also likely affects the grades you get, though also always in relation to other kinds of privilege you’re partaking, or not, in. You might see patriarchy manifesting in social settings — parties, cafes, on the bus (check out who’s wearing the “Freshman girls — get them while they’re skinny” T-shirts, and notice how you feel). You might see it in whether you feel comfortable walking down the path to the library after dark. You might see sexism in how you’re treated at the health center (especially if you have to go there once a year for a pelvic exam!) – does your doctor assume that you’re incapable of using contraception correctly and recommend that you get a carcinogenic Depo-Provera implant?

Notice that, when we talk about patriarchy, it doesn’t stand alone. Systems of oppression and privilege – patriarchy, racism and white supremacy, class stratification under capitalism, heterosexism and gender binarism, and others – intertwine in all aspects of our lives. All of us here – students, janitors, professors, bus drivers, food service workers, and so on – live lives in relation to our gender, who we want to have sex with, how much money we have, how others read our skin color and ethnicity, etc. For instance, being white and middle class affords considerable opportunity in this university setting and in Santa Barbara — both in who can come here and who can live here. These forms of privilege, in turn, deeply affect how each of us experiences gender oppression or privilege, and vice versa. It’s important to think about patriarchy in relation to other ways we’re positioned, because tearing it down will involve challenging it all.

We also see, here at UCSB, daily struggles against the way patriarchy warps, limits, and messes with all of us ­— weekly self defense trainings for responding to sexual harassment and assault, Women’s Studies classes, institutional resources like the Women’s Center, individual people naming the sexism they see around them and challenging gender binarism, and (more powerfully) groups of people coming together to work against the normalization of patriarchal power. One way to understand many of these struggles is as expressions of feminist practice.

“Feminism” is another term that sometimes seems outdated. Feminism is often attached to the Women’s Liberation movement of the 1960s and 70s. Imperfectly, it attempted to challenge the disparities and power imbalances affecting women, including sex-role stereotypes, wage gaps, private and public violence against women, inequities in household labor, and more. Through interventions by women who were often marginalized by the women’s liberation movement — frequently working class and queer women of color —much feminism has taken on a more radical, comprehensive analysis. It is a theory and practice that seeks to challenge not only sexism but all systems of oppression.

Happily, this theory and practice is available to everyone. You don’t have to be a woman to fight patriarchy. In fact, it will take people of all genders to fundamentally transform our society into a place where we all want to live. Let’s start now!

Resources

] Women’s Center – A safe space to hang out, nap, get work done, eat, hold meetings, etc. Services include the Rape Prevention Education Program, an art gallery, and a space for student organization meetings. (805) 893-3778. Building 434 – open M-F 10AM-7PM / F 10AM-5PM.
] “Intersections: Organizing All the Oppressed to End All Our Oppressions” by Malik Guevara - http://colours.mahost.org/articles/guevara.htmll
] Bell Hooks, Feminism is for Everybody (South End Press, 2000)

[Shotwell and Dixon are graduate students at UCSC]