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by jpendry 2454 days ago
There are many problems with your argument, but I’d like to focus on the fact that your understanding of the definition of The Patriarchy is wrong.

From Wikipedia[0]:

> Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property.

How many female presidents have we had here in the USA? What percentage of Fortune 500 CEOs are women?

[0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy

2 comments

If people consider a patriarchy bad does that mean a matriarchy is also bad? Or just that there isn't an even number of each type?
If society were structured that way (or if it had been), then probably. But there are notably fewer people who are against matriarchy for, I reason, the fact that matriarchal society has not been prevalent in the history of civilization and it isn't today. Most philosophers who are against patriarchy would argue that patriarchy is bad because of its power relations, not some mystical "innate badness" of the male sex. As such, their criticisms would likely apply to matriarchy too.
The majority of college grads are women. The majority of lower-class and blue collar workers are men. Depression and suicide rates are significantly higher for men than women. Nearly all workplace deaths and injuries occur to men. The fact that a small percentage of men are highly competitive and enterprising in a way that puts them in the top does not mean that our social system somehow coddles men or gives them power without reason, which is what the Patriarchy implies.
The college grad ratio is a relatively new phenomenon, and more women live in poverty than men IIRC. Your point about depression and suicide is well-taken, and is an excellent example of what groups like those outlined in the article are trying to address. Patriarchy isn’t good for men and bad for women. It’s bad for men and women, just in different ways. For men, it results in “toxic masculinity” where you get the message (like half the men in this thread) that you have to be stoic and “take care of yourself” so you repress everything as best you can. But that doesn’t work, and violence, depression, and suicide are predictable outcomes.