the human group - session 39 - the patriarchy
Let’s talk about the patriarchy:
a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.
What is it?
The way this term is used is far more nuanced and complex in comparison to a simple definition.
It has been popularly used as a label for the imbalanced value system still running within our society. This system is oppressive in a huge number of ways; oppressing the environment, indigenous culture, women, creativity, the imagination and more.
Can it be understood as to how it came to be?
Was there an evolutionary reason or was it simply enforced by a self-righteous misogynistic king?
Is there someone or something to blame or is the blaming and fighting a patriarchal tool that we blindly perpetuate?
What is left of the patriarchy within us?
What has this value-system oppressed and suppressed?
How can we approach change unified as human beings?
Is it possible to feel gratitude and love for a system so readily hate and despise?
How can we understand this period of our evolution?
What values and tools of the world have we learnt from its existence?
And is it time for men and women to shift their values from a more masculine-centric view towards the feminine?
What are these new values we are to bring consciousness?
Can we find the balance?
The discussion this week had just two members with another two joining in half-way. We discussed what is left within us of the patriarchy. Things like pushing opinion, being hard on emotion, identifying ourselves as ideas, seeing the world in a reductionist and static interpretation, etc.
How do we rehabilitate from values that no longer serve us and are even at the detriment of the health of our environment, relationships and bodies?
Education focusing upon identifying and expressing emotion consciously at a young age. Discovering the power of feeling, emotions and its role in connecting and creating strong relationship. Teaching how to access the flow state and move in alignment with nature.
Respecting and serving the values outside of the patriarchy that have been neglected and abused. Exploring the feminine qualities of the world and holding them with high value.
Check out session 40 for the reflection upon our discussion: ‘unlocking emotion’.