White Patriarchy's Last Stand

Women’s rights withdrawn. Trans kids denied the care they need. Talk of gender and racism banned from schools. Shameful gun regulation.

I can’t get used to the pace with which rights have been stripped, dignity disregarded, the common good ignored. We’re in a backslide for the ages.

I’m heartbroken and bewildered. This is not the country we were meant to build.

As I watch politicians dust off antiquated legislation, and I digest the commentary that’s arrived in the wake, my heart screams.

Let me tell you what I see.

I see a system that’s perpetuating the oppression of marginalized populations. People of color, the poor, LBGTQ folks... Ensuring that everyone stays right where they are.

I see women frightened and angered. Rights revoked like we’re second-class citizens. Indignant that those who selfishly championed bodily autonomy during a pandemic, are the same people denying bodily autonomy to us now.

I see parents who are ashamed of the world we’re passing on to our children. A place where average citizens have the right to wield weapons built for warfare, and where ‘equality’ is just a talking point, not a reality.

The response right now is impassioned. It swirls and it roars. We’re in the center of the storm and I squint to see what’s caused all this noise in the first place.

Let me tell you what I see.

I see a flagrant power grab. Old, white men, on the brink of irrelevance, clawing to embed their stale views in the systems that will survive them. Intent on shoring up the power structure that’s always held them up, because they know that a wrecking ball of progress is on the way to tear it all down.

I see a cranky cohort that refuses to evolve. Digging in their heels against progress. Fearing what brews beneath them. They reject change, because change means dismantling the very power structure that’s kept them on top. So they’re doing everything they can, while they can, to build a stronghold forged of outdated laws. They’re scrambling to erect white parapets of power because they know their footing was eroding.

It’s said that if you don’t evolve, you die.

The recent political frenzy has made it clear to me: white patriarchy is going to die.

Those in power need things to stay the same to continue to reign.

But the thing is, things aren’t staying the same. They never do. The only thing constant is change. And white patriarchy is too stubborn, too brittle, to survive in the face of change. Its refusal to evolve will be the death of it.

So, what we’re seeing now, then, is a desperate resort: it’s white patriarchy’s last stand.

It’s outdated, outnumbered, and it sure as hell will be outsmarted.

So, white, fragile men, kindly exit stage left. Your musty politics are poison. Your effort to steamroll the uprising, isn’t going to work. The fortress you think you’re building is a house of cards. Eventually, it will fall.

After all, a tidal wave of progress, inclusion, and diversity—the true face of America—has begun to swell. It’s building speed, and it’s coming in force.

It will take time. But one day, white patriarchy will be a relic of the past.*

That power structure is meant for an age that’s passed.

*I'm well aware that simply saying this won't make it so. The years of activism ahead, and the resolve required, will be monumental. I happen to believe it's possible.

Generalizations can never accurately describe an entire population, and I certainly recognize there are many men who are living exceptions to my stereotype. Similarly, discrete populations (like ‘white men’), and terms like ‘white patriarchy,’ are catchall expressions that cannot accurately or fully summarize the complexity of what we’re experiencing in the U.S. right now. I’ve identified older white men in this piece because the wave of recent extreme legislation and supreme court rulings have been brought to bear predominantly by, well, old white men. I chose to examine the power structure of white patriarchy in this piece because I believe it is the source of the recent political activity that is so unsettling to many. I recognize there are other power dynamics in play right now. I also acknowledge that there are people who will disagree with me. It’s okay to disagree. It’s not okay to be unkind. I reserve the right to censor disrespectful and hateful commentary on my platforms.