Gender & Sexuality History Short

Smash Patriarchy, Smash All Social Oppressions

By Mike K.

Patriarchy isn’t just an essential ingredient of “traditional family values”; it is explicitly required practice by most of the world’s religions. The Abrahamic religions codify the social subordination of women based on religious mythology dating back to the bronze age, but like many things religious it has less to do with the supernatural than it does with confirming the right of domination by a male-dominated ruling class.

The evolving archeological record shows that pre-historic (pre-civilized) humanity had developed a highly complex, rich culture based on social egalitarianism. This egalitarian emerged during the hunter-gatherer period of human social evolution, but it continued well-after humanity had begun to live in sedentary communities.

It was the rise of market economics, with human slaves (especially female slaves) as valuable items of trade, which began the social degeneration of human society into one of class hierarchy and permanent inequality. The invention of the Patriarchy was a key part of the social decay of egalitarian society that ended with rise of what we call “civilization”.

The oppression of women crosses class divisions and status, testimony to the important role that women played in the egalitarian majority of our pre-historic past. The destruction of the Patriarchy is a necessary step in the destruction of ALL social oppression.

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