Recently I was scrolling through my Twitter feed mindlessly when up popped up a tweet from Slate.
“Feminists, accept it. The patriarchy is dead.”
What? Of course, I clicked the tweet right away.
The tweet received a number of retweets and favorites within minutes. Some were from angry feminists like me, others agreed with it.
The tweet linked to an article by author Hanna Rosin in reference to her book, "The End of Men: And the Rise of Women." In the article, she argues that things are looking up for women.
In this “new age of female dominance,” as Rosin calls it, a record number of women are being elected to Congress, many women are earning more than their husbands, and successful single mothers are on the rise. But, Rosin then mentions things like the lack of female CEOs in business and the absence of paid maternity leave.
Still, Rosin insists that the patriarchy is indeed over, calling those women who still believe in it “elite feminists.”
The problem with Rosin’s article is that she is not inclusive in her definition of women. In writing about women in Congress and successful women in the workplace, Rosin excludes less privileged women, like those in the West and those in lower classes.
Not to mention, there is also the overwhelming patriarchy still rooted in our everyday culture. In a time where a song like “Blurred Lines” become No.1 and women’s birth control rights are actually a topic of political debate, the patriarchy is truly still alive.
The patriarchy is not dead, and it won’t be for a while.
