Beyond Patriarchy

Endeavoring to dislodge patriarchal understanding and embrace a feminist perspective has been tremendously exciting. After years of believing “I think, therefor I am” I am stunned and challenged to have respected sisters maintain that all knowledge is body mediated.

To be enlightened day after day by new feminist perceptions is a delight. I am glad to have lived to this day when I see society beginning a massive shift away from our long-held, male centered, life-threatening consciousness.

But feminism has also been a source of confusion. For too long I assumed that feminism was a single perspective. It was a relief to learn that feminism has many strands and that each perspective has a specific political theory and understanding of woman’s nature. Mainstream or liberal feminism is so dominant in that it is often assumed to be feminism in its entirety. It sees getting equality of women with men in the on-going patriarchal system as the essential goal. Equality within patriarchy is a contradiction that many often overlook.

As you can tell from what I have been saying my goal is the transformation of patriarchy. We need to go to the root cause and eradicate it. That is a radical concept and is known as radical feminism. I also believe that we must radicalize mainstream feminism or this wave of the women’s movement will stall short of the liberation of women from oppression.