I came across a great conversation on a feminist Facebook page where the debate about the root cause of oppression in the western world was raging. The post that started this was referencing the fact that drunk driving PSAs (Public Service Announcements) always show the man as the driver and the women as either helpless victims or distraught wives and crying children and that change was needed. This led to a discussion about how men always being portrayed as the perpetrator was part of Patriarchy because the patriarchy expects men to always insist on driving. The feminist was taking the standard Patriarchy approach because the myth of the Western Patriarchal system of oppression is so ingrained in the Feminist rhetoric and is used in such a broad way that it can literally be used to blame men for anything even when that thing is negatively impacting men and boys.

The real root cause of oppression in America today has nothing to do with this pervasive patriarchal boogeyman but is firmly grounded in a system of Oligarchy. To start we should define these two concepts. Patriarchy. Here I use the secondary definition because this is the one most often quoted by Feminists. Patriarchy is defined as “a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.” Where as an Oligarchy, which only has one definition is “A system by which a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.” Which one sounds more like American Society in today’s world.

Feminists contend that this, for lack of a better term chivalrous behavior is somehow patriarchal in nature and that men are somehow oppressing men into driving, paying for meals or what have you. Men oppressing Men into giving women special treatment just that statement alone makes the whole concept laughable. I hear women say that chivalry is dead when a random man does not offer the random woman special treatment based on their gender. A more viable argument could be made that that falls more into a matriarchal idea and set of rules. No I am not implying that we live in a Matriarchy. That is as intellectually dishonest as implying we live in a patriarchy. Putting all of the flowery rhetoric about a system of Medieval battle etiquette aside men comply with those behaviors because you as women expect it and we are courting you and want you to like us.

Look at western society as a whole. Is Patriarchy really at the center of it? In a system where men hold the power and exclude women why is it then that in all areas of post secondary education except for Engineering and Technology women now account for the larger share of the post secondary and graduate degrees. Gender parity in post secondary education was reached in the late 1970s and ever since has been increasingly leaving boys in the dust. In almost all areas of primary and secondary schooling as can be seen here boys are falling behind their female classmates. The pay gap or idea that women are paid less than men for the same work has been thoroughly debunk over and over by economists some of whom even identify as feminists. In fact in many areas on a case by case basis women are out earning their equally qualified male counterparts. I feel safe in saying that most of the major talking points about patriarchal oppression are provably false especially when to prove their point they have to cherry pick the available data to death or create their own bias “council of experts” who will manipulate the data in the way they are told to.

Oligarchy on the other hand is very much the root of oppression in this country not men or the boogeyman of patriarchy. We have an ever shrinking middle class an ever growing poor demographic and are being forced into government dependence just to survive. These things are not patriarchal in nature as they affect women and men pretty much equally across the board. We have a system by which all of the power is held by a very small percentage of people, organizations and corporations not all of which are males or men centered organizations or companies. Very wealthy female based organizations like the AAUW (American Association of University Women), NOW (National Organization for Women) and the United Nations Council on Women’s Rights who we met in full force this last year with the kick off of the #HeforShe campaign where an actress made an impassioned speech. key term here is “actress”. These organizations pump millions into the pockets of those that are in control both men and women to push through their agendas. If this truly was of society of patriarchal oppression those in charge would tell these women’s groups to go pound sand because they want to encroach on a system that would by definition benefit all men above all women. Yet at every turn these organizations get what they want from this supposed male dominated and controlled society. Don’t believe we live in an Oligarchy? ask yourself why is it that we have a congress with an 11% approval rating but a 96% on average reelection rate. I think Mark Twain put it best. “If voting mattered they wouldn’t let us do it” The illusion of a representative republic is a hallmark of Oligarchy not Patriarchy. For a real Patriarchy look at the middle east. That is what one looks like.

In all reality the notion of patriarchy in western cultures is really just akin to the Illuminati conspiracy theories without the secret handshake. When you can spend huge amounts of money to create a gender based “Victim” culture and then using your political swing or bank account to drive into the general population a factually baseless gender centered victim policy while incessantly spouting a woman centered superiority rhetoric then you are part of the problem with gender equality not part of the solution.

Until Next Time: Courage.