Patriarchy, the System

White, middle to upper class, males have surrounded me my whole life.  My family is ran by them, my neighbor is full of them, my government is dominated by them, and they have mostly been the authority figures in my life.  This model not only reflects my life but many lives in our society and it is not only white males but males of all colors that follow this system.  When Johnson explains that we are all living in a system larger than ourselves, I believe it.  I also do not exactly know how to step out of this system.  I find myself sucked into the social system of men making the decisions and being in charge of protecting the women.  I am sometimes in a bind between wanting to be extremely independent and also wanting to be taken care of.  

I must embarrassingly admit that often my roommate and I will lie in bed at night and talk about how we want to fall in love.  We want a man to find us, whisk us off our feet, tell me how amazing I am and ultimately provide me all the happiness and joy I would ever need in the world.  Its quite the fairy tale but I can dream right?  and why do I sometimes so strongly desire this?  Is it because our society has embedded into my brain the ideals and wants a women should look for in a man?  This hope for Prince Charming is only one of the issues that our system has created for women and men.  As a society we promote behaviors of male dominance, and breed a misogynic culture.  We make social systems happen and we participate in these very social systems.

I wish that Johnson would have touched on the issue of women following this patriarchal society.  It is a small amount of women who stand up against the system of hatred, dominance, and disrespect aimed at them.  Instead, it is shrugged off, filed as something that has and always will be that way.  This male dominance is everywhere.  Women in media and ads are depicted as weak and submissive.  Girls growing up are manipulated to act weaker and speak softer then their male counterparts.  To fix this problem we must not only have men take into account how they are acting and what stereotypes they are following but women must as well.  They must know that they are being forced into a system that can only be stopped if the majority of the people say  that it is not okay.